Staff Reporter :
The new Chief Justice, Surendra Kumar Sinha, has given assurance of forming constitutional benches to dispose of important cases in the Supreme Court.
Raising voice in favour of a more transparent procedure in the appointment of judges in higher courts, the CJ also promised to appoint senior most judges in forming benches in line with the Constitution.
“A bench, led by Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, has already been reorganized,” he said on Sunday.
Surendra Kumar Sinha, popularly known as SK Sinha, who took over as the country’s 21st Chief Justice on Saturday, came up with the commitment before the members of the bench and the bar at a traditional felicitation accorded to him jointly by the Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court Bar Association [SCBA], dominated by pro-BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami lawyers.
Dr Kamal Hossain, Attorney General Mahabubey Alam, Supreme Court Bar Association President Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, General Secretary AM Mahabub Uddin Khokan, senior lawyer Barrister Rafiq-ul Hoque, Barrister Ameer-ul Islam, Barrister Maudud Ahmed, Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, Barrister Azmalul Hossain QC, AJ Mohammad Ali, MI Faruqui , Mahmudul Islam, AF Hasan Ariff, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Abdul Baset Majumder, Rafiqul Islam Miah, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Munsurul Haque Chowdhury, among others, were present at the function.
A large number of lawyers, despite their different political affiliations, also attended the reception ceremony.
“We all know that innocent people often suffer pitiable fate due to desperate terrorist activities. It’s not possible to eliminate terrorist acts condemning on one hand and supporting and tolerating that on the other,” Sinha said.
Laying emphasis on doubling the number of judges in courts, the CJ said, “We will have to see whether our constitutional provision to appointment judges in the HC can be done in a more transparent and independent manner. In neighbouring India, there are laws for judges’ appointment.”
“About 3, 65,059 cases are now waiting for disposal in the High Court and Supreme Court and 24, 95,944 in the district courts across the country. But, against such huge number of cases, there are 94 judges employed at the High Court and Supreme Court while 1,500 in the district levels,” he said.
At present, the number of judges is small compared to the cases pending for disposal, he mentioned.
The CJ said, “We’ve set a system under which Supreme Court judges and university teachers examine the answer-sheet of the recruitment test. The process is transparent and independent. There is no loophole. Under the system, neither any incident of question paper leakage occurred in past nor will take place in future.”
He also said, “We will discuss over the vacation of Supreme Court. We are planning to find out a harmonious system about curtailing the vacation of the court.”
The new head of the judiciary urged the members of law enforcement agencies to give more attention to their duties than focusing on media coverage.
“I have noticed a tendency among the officers entrusted with a criminal investigation having more interest in publishing the news regarding the arrest and action taken against an accused. But broadcasting of such information hampers even the trial procedure,” he noted.
Regarding terrorism, the CJ said: “Terrorism cannot be curbed without a mechanism which would work effectively and ensure punishment of actual offenders and perpetrators at minimum time and cost.”
Taking a question from SCBA president Khandker Mahbub Hossain, the CJ said, “The lower court is not governed by the Law Ministry, it is rather under our control to a large extent.”
Meanwhile, the SCBA president, referring to the situation at the lower courts, alleged that after the implementation of the SC judgment on the separation of the judiciary in October 2007, the government has retained control over it, including trial, transfer and posting of the judges. As a result, the lower judiciary faces troubles in dispensation of justice.
He urged the new CJ to take necessary measures to increase the number of lower court judges along with additional courtroom infrastructures to reduce the burden of huge logjam of cases.
In his address, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam termed Justice Sinha’s appointment a great achievement in the country’s history as it reflected the bonafide spirit of secularism, one of the basic pillars of the constitution.
