Perhaps the Finance Minister is brain dead. We pray he is not. But he should not have exposed himself from time to time as an unsteady person.
This time he showed not to possess even the elementary knowledge of the constitutional limitations on the Parliament. He is seen as too anxious to impress upon the government what a knowledgeable person he is. He is only misleading the members of the Parliament and the government.
He is thinking and talking from his bureaucratic background. He should now be one who speaks for the people and in support of the people-given Constitution.
Mr AMA Muhith finds ‘rubbish’ everywhere and he himself has rubbished the economy of the country. As a failed Finance Minister he should be circumspect, if not ashamed.
Even if he is innocent of the basic knowledge of the Constitution and judiciary, even then as a citizen he can differ with the judgement of any court.
The unanimous judgement of the Supreme Court supported by all the eminent lawyers of the country including Dr. Kamal Hossain and Barrister Amirul Islam who were involved in drafting the Constitution rejected the Constitutional provision passed by the Parliament for impeaching the judges of the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
Mr Muhith spoke out against the judgement Friday for it not being tenable. In respect of law and the Constitution what credentials he has to be so sure about the tenability of the judgement? Despite that, we concede he, as a citizen, has every right to express his opinion, right or wrong, in respect of the judgement. But, he must not have said it so defiantly as if it is the requirement that the judgement has to be tenable to him to be effective.
It was most objectionable for a minister, fit or unfit, to say ‘who are they’ meaning the judges of the Supreme Court, ‘we have appointed them’. They cannot go over public representatives.
He was indecently arrogant when he threatened that they will bring back the law declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Parliament and will do it again and again. He will see how far the judges can go. Surely, others will not take his advice to make the Parliament a laughing stock.
He is not the Prime Minister, not even the Law Minister to speak with such authority. It is sad to see how little power has corrupted him hugely.
For most of his life, Mr. Muhith was in the employment of others. Now he has posed himself as an employer to say that the Supreme Court judges have been appointed by them. He cannot think that judges are constitutionally independent of the Parliament. They are not answerable to the Parliament like the ministers. Like his job, jobs of the judges are not dependent on the pleasure of the Prime Minister.
It is unbelievable that Mr. Muhith has no knowledge about the position and power of the Parliament of which he is a member, elected or not.
The Parliament is under the Constitution and not above. The people are sovereign and the sovereign people have trusted, not the members of the Parliament but the judges of the Supreme Court as the guardian of the Constitution.
We know there are some members of the Parliament who unknowingly claim that they are the sovereign and can pass any law or change the Constitution that suits them. Of course, there are bureaucrats who tell them to act that way. The politicians must have known their limitations.
It does not need to be enlightened politicians to know that the Supreme Court in its capacity as the protector of the Constitution has full authority to declare a law passed by the Parliament as unconstitutional for crossing the constitutional constraints on its power. Otherwise to have a Constitution as supreme law means nothing.
We also find it difficult to believe that Mr Muhith has no idea what is meant by the separation of power as the fundamental basis of our Constitution. If the Single-house Parliament can punish the judges of the Supreme Court then nothing remains of the notion of separation of power or the Supreme Court’s power as protector of the Constitution.
Let him do some study and he will know that nowhere single-house Parliament enjoys the power of impeaching the judges. In England, it is the House of Lords that decides whether a judge should be impeached. In India, it is a committee of judges that decides if the judge is guilty. If guilty, only then both the House take the impeachment decision.
We know the fight against the judiciary is the fight against the people’s Constitution for paving the way for unconstitutional dictatorship. In other words, the fight against the Supreme Court is fight against the rule of law and the people’s sovereignty and people’s fundamental rights. Such a conspiracy against the people must not be taken lightly.
There is no guarantee that Mr. Muhith will have a job for life if the dangerous efforts for dictatorship succeeds. He can be less enthusiastic in attacking the judiciary.
