Issues can be resolved thru' talks
In no country do the chief justices speak so much in public or express so much anger unless it involves judicial activities, Law Minister Anisul Huq has said.
“I want to say that definitely he [the CJ] speaks when it is necessary and I don't deny it. But if he has any sorrow and grievances, he may inform us without speaking it in public and we may try to solve them,” he said.
Anisul made the comments while replying to a reporter's query during a press conference at the law ministry yesterday, a day after Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said successive governments treated the judiciary unfairly.
At a function in Habiganj on Tuesday, the CJ also said the administration never wanted the judiciary to run independently. He added that the judiciary provided protection to the administration too and the bureaucracy always considered judiciary as its contender.
“With due respect to the chief justice, I will say that you [journalists] have seen many developing and developed countries. You have also seen the neighbouring countries. In no country do the honourable chief justices speak so much in public or express so much anger unless it involves judicial activities,” Anisul said.
He said he wanted that every issue was resolved through discussions.
The minister also said he did not see any discriminatory nature in their behaviour. “We can resolve any issue through discussions if he [the CJ] points it out.”
The government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina never interfered in the judiciary and would never do that in future, he said.
Apart from increasing their other facilities, he said, the government almost doubled the monthly salaries of the chief justice and the judges of the Appellate and High Court divisions of the Supreme Court.
The government also hiked the salaries of the lower court judges, he said, adding, it did that because it believed the judges should discharge their duties independently.
Replying to a question, Anisul said there was no gap between the government and the judiciary.
Yesterday's press conference was organised by the law ministry at its conference room on the occasion of the National Legal Aid Day to be observed on Friday.
Earlier in the programme, the minister said the government provided legal assistance to 2,31,626 people and given financial assistance to 1,66,339 people through 64 legal aid offices between March 2009 and this year.
A total of 40,715 people in prisons were given legal assistance, he said, adding that 64,546 cases involving legal aid have been disposed of since 2012.
Law and Justice Division Secretary ASSM Zahirul Haque and National Legal Aid Services Organisation's acting director Mostafizur Rahman, among others, were present at the press conference.
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