Major shake-up ordered in Supreme Court administration

A major shake-up of the Supreme Court administration has been ordered amid questions surrounding the role of Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

Acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah has approved the transfer of 25 officials including 10 who held positions at the Supreme Court, said officials of the law ministry.

Registrar General Syed Aminul Islam, whose signature appeared on a rare statement by the top court that contained damning allegations against Justice Sinha, has been made the head of the Minimum Wage Board.

No new names have been announced with the order that vacated 10 positions in the Supreme Court administration.

Anisur Rahman, Private Secretary to the Chief Justice, has been transferred to Panchagarh as additional district and sessions judge.

Appellate Division Deputy Registrar Arunabh Chakraborty has been made additional district and sessions judge at Satkhira.

The High Court Division's Registrar Syed Dilzar Hossain will work as a special judge of the Dhaka court.

Sabbir Foez, additional registrar of the High Court Division, has been transferred to Lalmonirhat as additional district judge.

Another additional registrar of the High Court Division, Md Zabid Hussain has been made a judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal at Rangpur.

High Court deputy registrars Mohammad Kamal Hossain Shikder, Md Azizul Haque and Farzana Yasmin have been given the position of joint district judge at Chuadanga, Thakurgaon and Priojpur respectively.

AEM Ismail Hossain, Special Officer of the Supreme Court, will work as additional district judge of Barguna.

Saturday's Supreme Court statement, signed by the registrar general, cited 11 charges, including graft, money laundering, financial misappropriation and moral lapse, against Sinha.

The appeals court judges 'refused' to work with Justice Sinha after he 'failed' to respond to the allegations 'properly' on Sept 30, the statement said. The president handed documents on the allegations to the judges, according to the statement.

Now Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sees no scope for Justice Sinha to return as chief justice after the 'refusal' of his colleagues to sit with him on the same bench. 

After Chief Justice Sinha went on leave on Oct 3, the president appointed Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, the most senior judge in the Appellate Division, as acting chief justice.

Justice Sinha, in his statement issued before he left for Australia on Friday, questioned the purview of Justice Miah's authority as acting chief justice.

He said, "There is no practice of interference by the acting chief justice or government in the chief justice's administration. He (acting chief justice) only does routine work."

The shake-up in the Supreme Court administration came after comments by Law Minister Anisul Huq and Attorney General Alam insisting that the acting chief justice can do all the work of a chief justice.