Charges against chief justice based on evidence, says attorney general

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam believes the charges, including money laundering and moral lapse, against Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, are based on evidence.

The attorney general also ruled out the possibility of Justice Sinha returning to office.

“Is it at all possible to speak about the chief justice if there’s no truth in the allegations against him?” Alam said while speaking to reporters on Saturday after the Supreme Court cited the charges against Justice Sinha in a statement.

The apex court’s statement came a day after the chief justice expressed concern over the independence of judiciary before leaving Dhaka for Australia during his ‘sick leave’.

Justice Sinha also said he is ‘not sick, but embarrassed’ by criticism by ruling Awami League leaders, contradicting his letter publicised by Law Minister Anisul Huq.

The Supreme Court termed Justice Sinha’s statement ‘misleading’.

It said his colleagues had refused to work with him after he failed to give any explanation to the charges. President Md Abdul Hamid handed over documents on the 11 specific charges to the judges at a meeting on Sept 30.

The BNP alleges the government forced the chief justice to go on leave and travel abroad.

Attorney General Alam said: “The government has played no role in removing him or barring him from sitting on the bench.”

“The people should know that the other honourable judges refused to sit with him after hearing the charges from the president. This is the real situation and that’s why he had to go on leave.”

“It won’t be possible for him to sit on the bench alone if the judges don’t want to work with him after he returns,” Alam said.