Bangladesh Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has gone abroad amid a tug of war over a constitutional amendment verdict, which has withdrawn Parliament’s authority to impeach judges of the higher judiciary in case of incapacity and misconduct.
Justice Sinha initially took a month’s leave, citing health reasons, but extended it for a few weeks later. He is learnt to have left Dhaka for Australia to meet his daughter.
Justice Sinha, whose tenure would end on January 31 next year, is the lone chief justice who faced such a public scrutiny and criticism while in office.
Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, senior-most judge of the Appellate Division, was appointed the acting Chief Justice.
According to Law Minister Anisul Huq, Justice Sinha desired to return on November 10 after visiting Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.
Sharp reactions
The Chief Justice has faced criticism from the ruling party leaders since the publication of the full appeals verdict in early August upholding the High Court judgment that scrapped the 16th constitutional amendment. His observation on Bangladesh’s politics, past dictatorships, electoral commission, corruption, governance and the judiciary in the verdict sparked sharp reactions. The Chief Justice had come for criticism from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as well.
Many of the ruling Awami League leaders demanded his resignation, accusing him of “belittling” the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the verdict observations.
Charges denied
Welcoming the verdict, the government’s arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Supreme Court bar association, which is dominated by pro-BNP lawyers, claimed that the government forced Justice Sinha to go on leave and travel abroad, an allegation denied by the government.
However, in a statement before his departure, Justice Sinha said, “I am fully well, but I am truly embarrassed at how a political quarter, lawyers, and especially some honourable Ministers in the government, and the honourable Prime Minister have criticised me personally.”
“I’m not sick. I’m not fleeing. I’ll come back. I’m a little embarrassed. I’m the guardian of the judiciary. I’m leaving for a brief period in the interest of the judiciary, and so that the judiciary is not polluted,” the Chief Justice told reporters.
The Chief Justice also said: “I’ve no antipathy to anybody. It’s my firm belief that the government has been misled... I won’t say anything more”, adding that “I am not leaving under pressure. I am leaving on my own.”
Justice Sinha also said he was a “bit worried about the independence of the judiciary”.