Dhaka, Oct 7 (bdnews24.com) - The judicial jurisdiction of the High Court bench of Justice Sharifuddin Chaklader and Justice Imdadul Haq Azad is being changed, as the chief justice reconstitutes some 30 separate benches during the Supreme Court vacation.
The bench of Chaklader and Azad has caught the media spotlight in recent months by granting bail to over 100 politicians and businessmen. It also suspended proceedings of about 60 cases filed by the Anticorruption Commission.
It has now been given jurisdiction to hear death reference cases instead of new criminal case appeals and will no longer have power to grant bail, for now.
The chief justice, according to long-standing tradition, reconstitutes the High Court benches after a long vacation.
Chief justice MM Ruhul Amin reconstituted the 30 benches on Tuesday, to come into effect on Sunday when the Supreme Court reopens after its annual vacation.
This time, none of the five senior judges of the High Court have been given jurisdiction to hear new criminal case appeals.
The five judges are: Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman, Justice Abdul Quddus, Justice Md Abdul Aziz, Justice TK Das and Justice ABM Khairul Haq.
Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, Saifur Rahman, Dr Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Tofail Ahmed and Sajeda Chowdhury were among the high-profile leaders granted bail by the bench of Chaklader and Azad.
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