Judiciary in spotlight
Muhammad Yeasin
The judiciary remained at the centre of a political tug-of-war for several issues, including the resignation of former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, in 2017. The Supreme Court (SC) drew much attention for some landmark judgments such as the one in the Narayanganj seven-murder case and the BDR mutiny case.
However, SK Sinhas prolonged leave and subsequent resignation became the talk of the town across the country. He went to Australia while on leave and later sent his resignation from Singapore. But the reason why the former chief justice sent his letter of resignation from abroad is still not clear.
SK Sinha left Dhaka for Australia on October 13 amid a row with the government after the top court scrapped the 16th amendment to the Constitution, stripping parliament of its power to impeach apex court judges. He had drawn criticism from the ruling party for his observations made in the verdict.
Before leaving the country, SK Sinha told the press that he was quite embarrassed about the way in which a specific political quarter, including some ministers and the Prime Minister herself, had criticised him over the 16th amendment verdict.
Immediately after Sinhas departure, five judges of the Appellate Division announced their unwillingness to continue working with him because of 11 gross allegations including money laundering, financial scam, corruption, moral degradation against him.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) reacted to Sinhas resignation by terming it a black chapter in the history of the nations judiciary. But law minister Anisul Huq said the government saw no reason to be alarmed with the development and that some people were trying to take advantage of the situation.
Amid the controversy, SK Sinha sent his resignation on November 10 from Singapore and left for Canada, where his daughter stays.
It is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that a chief justice stepped down before the end of his/her term. SK Sinha belongs to the Tripura community, an ethnic minority. Since his appointment in 2015, Sinha chaired the apex court in upholding the death penalties of several leading perpetrators of the 1971 war crimes. During his tenure, he took many initiatives to reform the judiciary.
The judiciary and the executive were locked in a debate several times, especially when the top court repeatedly gave the government time to issue a gazette notification on the conduct and disciplinary rules for lower court judges as well as during the hearing on the appeal of 16th amendment case. The tussle between the judiciary and the executive became clear to the people as it was marked by statements and the counter-statements by the Supreme Court and the law ministry on several issues during SK Sinhas tenure.
In the biggest ever criminal case in the countrys history in terms of the number of accused and convicts, the High Court on November 27 confirmed the death penalty for 139 among the 152 accused for their involvement in a massacre during the BDR mutiny in 2009.
Earlier, on August 22, the High Court upheld the death penalty of 15 persons, including three ex-Rab officials and expelled Awami League leader Nur Hossain, for their involvement in the much-talked about seven murder case, which took place in Narayanganj in 2014. The court, however, commuted the capital punishment of 11 to life imprisonment. It fined them Tk 20,000 each, in default of which they will have to spend two more years in prison.
