16th Amendment is to remove, not impeach judges: Suranjit

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution will empower Parliament to remove judges, not impeach them, says Suranjit Sengupta.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Sept 2014, 01:25 PM
Updated : 9 Sept 2014, 07:14 PM

People with vested interests were spreading 'misinformation' regarding 'impeachment', he alleged on Tuesday.

File Photo

The 'Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill-2014, which, once passed, will restore Parliament's power to impeach Supreme Court judges, is currently being scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Sengupta heads this committee.
After a committee meeting on the issue, he told reporters that matters of removal and impeachment had got mixed up in this case.
"Vested quarters are carrying out propaganda to make it seem as if the government was passing this bill to control the court. Some responsible and experienced leaders have also joined them."

The BNP, which has been opposing the government move to amend the Constitution, alleges it is to establish complete control over the judiciary.

Suranjit Sengupta said those who were saying these remarks had ulterior political motives.

"Impeachment is out of the question. That is for the president only in case the president violates the Constitution or commits serious offence."

The first Constitution of Bangladesh in 1972 gave Parliament the jurisdiction to settle the tenure of top judges and decide about their removal.

The president was then vested with the power through the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution in 1974.

After military ruler Ziaur Rahman usurped state power, the Fourth Amendment was annulled and a Supreme Judicial Council was formed following an order to enforce the impeachment rule, which is still in effect.

The ruling Awami League is now trying to hand the power back to Parliament by amending the Constitution. For that, the parliamentary standing committee has been asked to submit its report on the planned changes by Sept 14.


About the Bill tabled in Parliament on Sunday, Sengupta said, "This Bill stipulates on the removal of president, prime minister and the speaker. But these are elected officials, and judges are appointed."

"And not all judges will be removed, only those who will become incapable of working or engage in serious misconduct. Those are the people the judiciary wants to be saved from," he insisted.

He pointed out that during 1972-75, when Parliament was vested with this power it had never exercised it.

"Rather the military rulers removed Justice KM Sobhan and Kamaluddin Ahmed," he said.

The amendment pending with Parliament requires that a law be introduced to guide the investigation and evidence of incapability or misconduct of a judge.

"A judge won't be removed upon any allegation. Follow-up laws will be introduced. That law will mandate an investigation committee, which will be formed with relevant, responsible people," he said.

"When they send their suggestions Parliament will simply approve the matter. Only the president, who appoints the judges, has the power to remove them.”

Although of course, under the Constitution the president makes every decision apart from the appointment of the chief justice and the prime minister, at the advice of the prime minister.

Asked whether there would be any constitutional dilemma until relevant laws are formulated, Sengupta suggested that the existing system was itself such a problem.

"But has the Supreme Judicial Council removed anyone?" he asked.

Preamble to be removed

The parliamentary committee has agreed to remove the preamble from the tabled bill, its chief said.

"It's a small amendment, so we don't need such a big preamble. Only the 12th and the 13th amendment had preambles. This one is inconsistent and disproportionate. We have agreed to drop it," Sengupta said.

He did not explain why this preamble was inconsistent and disproportionate.

The committee wanted to hear from everyone on the Bill, he said.

"We've told the law minister. He will speak to the government. If they give us space we will discuss the Bill with them," he said.

Earlier, the senior Awami League leader had said he would call the Supreme Court, the Bar Council and BNP, as a political party, to hear their views on the Bill.

Asked whether the Bill might create uncertainty about the other constitutional positions of the same rank as a High Court judge, Suranjit said, "The same rule will apply to all of them. But they'll have to wait until the law is introduced."