Justice Shamsuddin terms chief justice’s behaviour ‘unconstitutional’

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's actions have been described as ‘a violation of the Constitution, the law and convention’.

The accusation has been levelled at the chief justice by Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury, who recently retired from the Appellate Bench of the High Court.

Choudhury had earlier publicly criticised Justice Sinha for what he considered ‘wrongful acts’ on the part of the latter.

Justice Choudhury says the judgements he wrote after proceeding into retirement could not be submitted by him because of ‘instructions of the Chief Justice’.

Four months into retirement, Justice Choudhury on Sunday sent a letter to the Chief Justice asking him to accept the copies of the judgements and directives he wrote after going into retirement. Choudhury's accusations were also part of the letter.

Shamsuddin Choudhury wrote to the chief justice, "I had earlier acquainted you with my view that your conduct had been a violation of the Constitution, the law and convention and at the same time contrary to the principles of justice."

Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury revealed the contents of the letter to journalists at the Supreme Court on Sunday afternoon.

In it he wrote, "When I requested my presiding judge, Honourable Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, to accept the copies of the judgments that I had reached, he expressed his inability to do so in light of the Chief Justice's directive that no judgments arrived at by a judge who had gone into retirement would be accepted."

Justice Choudhury noted that since after his retirement his office had been placed under lock and key in a 'discriminatory' manner, and since he had been deprived of the services of his office staff, he could not have the judgements typed and had therefore written them down by hand and sent them to the presiding judge.

A year after taking over as chief justice, Sinha said on January 17 that judgements written by judges after proceeding into retirement contravened the Constitution.

Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury also wrote, "Your comments have been deliberated on in parliament, which did not agree with your opinion and noted that there was no bar to judges writing judgements after going into retirement."

Following Justice Sinha's statement, Law Minister Anisul Haq and his predecessor Shafiq Ahmed both remarked that they saw no issues with judgements being written by judges after they had gone into retirement. Both of them noted that it had been a convention for long.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, for his part, noted that he too saw no issues with judgements being written in a post-retirement period by judges.

Drawing the CJ's attention to the opinions of lawmakers and legal experts, Justice Choudhury wrote to Justice Sinha, "You cannot undermine the judiciary, the law and the system of justice on the basis of your personal opinions and beliefs. You have sworn an oath under the Constitution."

Choudhury has asked the Chief Justice to take appropriate measures to accept the copies of the judgements he (Choudhury) reached after hearings conducted at his bench.

Copies of his letter have been sent to the law minister and to judges of the Appellate Division of the High Court.

Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury, who joined the High Court on 3 July 2001, went into retirement as a judge of the Appellate Division on 1 October last year.

He told bdnews24.com that at the time of his proceeding into retirement, 15 judgements and 70 directives remained to be written by him.