High Court defers hearing on chief justice appointment to Jan 28

The High Court has deferred a hearing on a writ petition seeking the appointment of the chief justice from Supreme Court lawyers.

Justice Zinat Ara and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo fixed Jan 28 for the hearing after the state sought time for taking necessary preparations on Sunday.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond submitted the petition to the HC on Jan 3, urging the bench to issue a rule on why the inaction of the authorities to fill the post of chief justice should not be deemed unconstitutional.

Four HC benches had earlier rejected the petition.

Advocate Eunus told the HC bench that he had no objection to Attorney General Mahbubey Alam’s plea for seven days.

Advocate Eunus had served legal notices on the authorities seeking directives to fill the post, to which the respondents remained silent.

The post fell vacant more than two months ago after former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned on Nov 10. He left the country amid a huge outcry by government stalwarts on the annulment of the 16th Constitutional Amendment.

President Md Abdul Hamid appointed Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, the most senior among his colleagues, as the acting chief justice.

Any SC lawyer with 10 years of experience is eligible to serve as a judge as per the constitution but none of them has ever been appointed directly to the Appellate Division or chief justice since 1972, according to Eunus.

“More than 80 percent of the additional judges of the High Court Division came from lawyers. None of them were appointed directly (to the Appellate Division.”

It shows discrimination against the lawyers and a violation of their basic rights as mentioned in the constitution, according to Eunus.

“There is no constitutional directive that High Court judges will be prioritised for appointments to the Appellate Division. Still, all the posts at the Appellate Division are being filled by promoting High Court judges,” Eunus had told after serving the legal notice on the government.

“That means the chief justice takes oath four times as one person holds four posts one after another, whereas the lawyers are not getting any scope to serve as Appellate Division judges despite the provision in the constitution.”

What the constitution says:

>>The chief justice shall be appointed by the president, and the other judges shall be appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice.

>>A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge unless he is a citizen of Bangladesh and has been an advocate of the Supreme Court or held judicial office or has such qualifications for no less than ten years.