12 HC Division judges won't be allocated bench for now
Registrar general at the Supreme Court, Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan, has said some 12 judges at the High Court Division are not being allocated benches for now.
He made the announcement at around 4:00pm in front of the annex building of the High Court following a discussion with a delegation of Student Against Discrimination (SAD).
The students, who were demonstrating at the court premises demanding the resignation of ‘fascist’ justices of Awami League, left the area after the announcement.
The SC authorities have not disclosed the names of the 12 judges.
However, the names of the probable list of judges have been known upon talking to lawyers and court sources.
They are justices Ataur Rahman Khan, Naima Haider, Sheikh Hassan Arif, Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, Ashish Ranjan Das, Khizir Hayat, SM Moniruzzaman, Khondkar Diliruzzaman, Shahed Nuruddin, Md Akhtaruzzaman, Md Aminul Islam and SM Masud Hossain Dolan.
The last six of them met the chief justice separately on Wednesday afternoon.
Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan told the agitators that he had held a long discussion with the student leaders about their demands and later talked with the chief justice.
“You know that there is a specific process for the resignation or removal of judges, but there is currently no law in our country addressing this issue. The previous government took an initiative to introduce the removal of judges through the parliament and an amendment was made in this regard. But the Supreme Court nullified that amendment. The government has since applied for a review of this decision. On next Sunday, October 20, a hearing will take place on the matter at the Appellate Division under the leadership of the chief justice," he added.
Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan mentioned that judges’ resignations are demanded, but the appointment and removal of judges are done by the president.
He maintained that the chief justice has taken appropriate actions regarding the situation and the 12 judges will not be allocated benches for now, meaning they will not be allowed to take part in judicial activities when the court reopens from 20 October.
He hoped the next step will commence after the attorney general places the review hearing on 20 October.
“The removal of justices does not depend only on the Supreme Court; rather the president, attorney general office and legal affairs adviser are also involved with the process. For the time being 12 judges will not be given benches and the next phases of development will be started by hearing," the registrar general said.
The students under the banner of SAD started a demonstration on Wednesday afternoon demanding resignation of “fascist justices belonging to Awami League”. On the other hand, the lawyers under the banner of ‘anti-discrimination lawyer’s society’ were demonstrating for resignation of ‘partisan and corrupt judges of the High Court’ while the legal wing of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee were holding a rally seeking removal of ‘pro-fascist judges’.
While the protesters were demonstrating, news broke that the chief justice had invited 12 judges for tea and a decision has been taken that they will be sent on leave.
Later the registrar general made an announcement that these 12 judges will not be allocated benches for now.