Discharging CJ’s duty a far cry for Sinha: AG

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam today said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's rejoining office after returning to Bangladesh is “a far cry.”

“How can Chief Justice SK Sinha discharge the judicial duty if other judges of the Appellate Division do not want to sit with him in the bench,” he questioned while talking to reporters at his office after the Supreme Court held hearing on Masdar Hossain case, known as judiciary separation case.

The chief justice left for Australia on a month’s leave on October 13 on health ground. During his departure, he told the media that he is not sick and he will come back to the country. He is scheduled to return home on November 11.

On October 14, the SC authorities issued a statement that Appellate Division of the SC judges did not want to the chief justice in the bench as the president handed over document to them containing 11 alliterations, including corruption.

About the SC’s time extension on disciplinary rule for lower court judges, he further said that a meeting between the apex court judges and the law minister might be held on Thursday to settle the issue of the disciplinary rule for the lower court judges.

Replying to a question, Mahbubey Alam said there is no link of moving review petition against the Supreme Court verdict that scrapped the 16th amendment of the constitution with the return of Justice SK Sinha back to the country.

The 16th amendment of the constitution had empowered the parliament to remove the Supreme Court judges for incapacity or misconduct.