Speakers at a roundtable discussion on Monday criticised the ruling Awami League (AL) government for seeking to amend a charter that will empower Parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges.
Protesting the move, they said, any amendment to the Constitution should be brought on the basis of consensus.
“The way government is going to amend charter to empower the Parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges is ‘not right at all’ and ‘not in the interest of the country and its people’, eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain said this while speaking at the discussion. If any amendment to the Constitution is to be done, it should be on the basis of consensus, he said, adding, “Public opinion should be solicited in this regard.”
The discussion titled “Amendment to the Constitution: Impeachment of the judges and its significance’ organised by Sujon (Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik) at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.
Sujon secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder presented keynote paper at the discussion.
Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, noted columnist Syed Abul Moksud, Dhaka University Law Professor Dr Asif Nazrul, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Sujan Chairman M Hafiz Uddin Khan and eminent journalist Mizanur Rahman Khan, among others, spoke at the roundtable. Mentioning the hastily move of the government for the amendment, Dr Kamal, one of the framers of Constitution, said, “Cabinet approval for any proposal to amend the Constitution does not mean democracy.” He wondered why the government was in such a hurry.
Dr Kamal, who also served as law and former foreign minister of Bangladesh, suggested that comprehensive dialogue and debate should be held on the basis of authentic information for bringing any amendment to the Constitution.
“A national-level dialogue is essential to amend the Constitution to give back Parliament its authority to impeach judges. There’s a need for assessing public opinion at district level apart from the opinions of political parties,” he said.
Performance of the parliament and Supreme Judicial Council, which is currently empowered to probe any misconduct and incapacity of the judges, should be evaluated, Hossain suggested.
On the appointment of SC judges, he said the government should frame a guideline determining an appointment procedure so that the judges could be appointed in a transparent manner.
Earlier, on August 18, the Cabinet approved a proposal on amending the Constitution to restore parliament’s authority to impeach Supreme Court judges on grounds of misconduct or incapacity ignoring the opinions of eminent jurists.
The existing constitutional provision for the chief justice-led Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will cease to exist once the Constitution Amendment bill is passed in the parliament.
Columnist Syed Abul Moksud urged the government to remove all confusions before restoring 1972’s Constitution.
Dr Asif Nazrul expressed his concern about the shift of impeachment power saying that it might create anarchy in future if the new government wants to impeach all the judges appointed by the former government.
Journalist Mizanur Rahman Khan proposed to increase the power of Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) before empowering parliament impeach the judges.
