Plea seeks appointment of CJ

The High Court is set to hold hearing on Sunday on a writ petition that challenged legality of keeping the post of chief justice vacant and not appointing a successor to former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

The bench of Justice Zinat Araand Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo on January 18 fixed Sunday for hearing the petition, as four separate HC benches had earlier refused to deal with the same petition, writ petitioner Advocate Eunus Ali Akond told The Daily Star today.

He also said the HC benches did not mention any specific reasons behind their refusal to hear the petition.  

Advocate Eunus submitted the writ petition as public interest litigation to the HC on January 3, praying to it to issue a rule asking the respondents to explain why their action keeping the post of chief justice vacant and not appointing a new chief justice should not be declared illegal.

Secretaries to the cabinet division, president’s office and the law ministry and prime minister’s principal secretary and registrar general of the Supreme Court have been made respondents to the prayed rule.

Citing from the petition, Eunus said the post of the chief justice cannot be kept vacant even for a day under the constitution, though the respondents have not appointed the chief justice after Justice SK Sinha resigned on November 10 last year.

In the petition, Eunus prayed to the HC to order the respondents to appoint him the chief justice until disposal of the rule.

Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has been discharging the duties of chief justice since October 3 last year, when then chief justice SK Sinha went on leave before finally stepping down.