16th amendment: Vacuum prevails in removing SC judges
Gulam Rabbani :
Hearing on the review petition filed challenging the Appellate Division verdict that upheld the cancellation of the 16th Constitutional amendment brought to restore parliament’s power to remove judges for incapacity or misconduct is pending for six years. As a result, a vacuum is prevailing in the procedure of removing Supreme Court judges and election commissioners for their misconduct.
However, there has been some recent progress in this regard. The Appellate Division on November 23 opined that a six-member full bench of the apex court is competent to hold hearing on the review.
As a result, the new question raised over whether the six judges’ bench can hear the review of the verdict delivered by a seven-judges’ bench has been ended for the time being.
Later on December 7, the Appellate Division of the SC deferred till January 18 in 2024 the hearing on the review petition. A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the deferment order.
The state on December 24 in 2017 filed the petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking review of its judgement that upheld the High Court verdict scrapping the 16th amendment to the Constitution.
The Attorney General’s office submitted the 908-page review petition containing 94 grounds on which the apex court may consider the prayer.
In a briefing, the then Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, “We sought scrapping of irrelevant observations of the verdict.”
Since the review petition has not been finalized yet, a vacuum is prevailing in the procedure of removing Supreme Court judges and election commissioners for their misconduct.
Allegations raised against some of the High Court judges are also pending for years. However, legal experts say, the Supreme Judicial Council is still in place.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid who appeared in this case for the writ petitioners said, “Since the Appellate Division upheld the judgment and as the apex court didn’t pass any stay order on the judgment, there is no doubt that the Supreme Judicial Council is still in place.”
Three High Court judges, Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury, Justice A K M Zahirul Hoque and Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque, have been relieved of their judicial duties since August 22 in 2019 after a probe into allegations of professional misconduct against them was initiated. But no decision has been taken about them for a long time.
There is no scope of keeping three judges out of work for a long time without any kind of investigation, said lawyer Manzill Murshid.
The 16th amendment, made on September 17 in 2014, had abolished the Chief Justice led Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and restored parliament’s power to remove the judges. But it was challenged with the HC on November 5 in 2014, through a writ petition filed by nine SC lawyers.
