Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha (S K Sinha) on Saturday said the country’s democratic institutions are fading away and asked the lower court judges not to compare themselves with the government administrative officers in the civil service.
In his annual address to judicial officers he said it is the duty of the judges to protect the balance between all the organs of the state and that judges must give justice to people in all circumstances especially in the excesses of the government.
The Chief Justice has said posting of judicial officers on deputation to other administrative departments; which offers them to enjoy better life, is not supportive to creating an independent judiciary and he would take a decision soon whether such posting should continue. He has also blamed such posting on deputation to have created the backlog of over 30 lakhs cases in the lower courts that it never saw before.
The Chief Justice S K Sinha has made some valuable remarks at no other critical time as we are passing now with a highly politicization process subjecting the judiciary under the fear of impeaching the judges of the Supreme Court.
It has to be said that the judiciary has to acquire the strength and courage to assert itself to hold high for everybody to see the importance and independence of the judiciary in curtailing the excesses of the government including police in violation of the law and the Constitution.
The people are frustrated to see that the government behaves like an all powerful body expecting even the judiciary to be obliging. The independence of the judiciary means nothing if the judges cannot establish in public eye that they are for saving the people from abuse of power by the government.
Such confidence and strength have to be demonstrated by their Lordships of the Supreme Court under the leadership of the Chief Justice. The judges of lower courts will not follow what they are being told if their Lordship of the Supreme Court cannot themselves set examples of courage.
The Chief Justice knows how by refusing bail to an accused and sending him to police custody on remand he is made to suffer and degrade although he is innocent in the eye of law and the constitutional protection available to him is blatantly ignored.
Arresting a person and not granting him bail has resulted in the abuse of police power both for illicit gains and for political harassment. Because, the judiciary is not anxious to ensure police accountability as law enforcers are losing public confidence. Arrest by police for reasons of politics at the wish of the government has made the rule of law nearly unworkable. It is our strong belief that the bail facility should be easy to keep in check against abuse of police power in every way including starting false cases.
Enough damage has been done to the image of the judiciary because of political pressure and manipulation resorted to. It will be a great achievement for the new Chief Justice of Bangladesh if his Lordship takes some practical steps empowering the lower judiciary in respect of granting bail honestly and refusing police custody in every case. The lower judiciary needs to be saved from political interference encouraging corruption.
