Govt consolidates control over judges, says BNP after service rules gazette

The gazetting of service rules for lower court judges means the government now holds more sway over the judiciary, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.

He disagrees with Law Minister Anisul Huq who on Monday said the new rules and code of conduct have enhanced the authority of the Supreme Court.

He made the remark after the government published a gazette notification on Bangladesh Judicial Service rules.

Fakhrul told the media the same day that the government has retained its control over the judiciary by gazetting the new rules.

“We have spoken a lot over the freedom of judiciary, movements were waged many times and laws were passed by the parliament. But now situation is back to the square one,” he said at the National Press Club. “This ultimately takes all the power back to the government. It is a conspiracy.”

Former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha had to leave the country and resign only because he had opposed the rules and wanted to ensure an independent judiciary, he claimed.

Stating his fear that the government might misuse its power further, Fakhrul said: “A lot of cooked-up cases are piling up against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. Now they (government) have gone to the extent of fabricating stories about her wealth abroad.”

Law Minister Anisul on the other hand claimed that the rules had been formed in line with the orders of the Supreme Court and it was Justice Sinha who proved to be a stumbling block.

“The rules were made upon consultation with the court. In no way does it hinder the authority of the Supreme Court; rather they increase it,” he told journalists on Tuesday.