Badrul Ahsan :Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque has joined the First Security Islami Bank Ltd (FSIBL), as an advisor provoking widespread skepticism from different quarters as to whether it is lawful and also befitting for a retired chief justice to work for any bank or financial institution.Critics said such appointment is a prestige issue that overshadows the dignity of all other current and former judges of Bangladesh Supreme Court as well as for the lawyers of the country as he has accepted a post, which is far lower in position than that of a Chief Justice.Besides, critics fear that the appointment of ABM Khairul Haque might become a safeguard to any illegal or controversial activity of the private commercial bank (PCB) because as an advisor to the bank, he will remain responsible to such act and they may go unnoticed. “Advisory post of a PCB is not at all equivalent to the position of a Chief Justice. So joining to the post is damaging to the dignity of all the lawyers,” Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association told The New Nation Thursday. “Also worrying is that if any kind of unfair means happen in the bank (FSIBL), no one will be able to investigate the issue independently as ABM Khairul Haque is still holding the position of Chairman of Law Commission, an equivalent post of Chief Justice,” he added.The post ‘Chairman of Law Commission’ is a fulltime job. So he cannot join in another job at the same time, Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said.When asked, Dr Mohammad Saleh Uddin, former Governor of the central bank has denied making any comment on the issue of whether appointing any retired justice in a PCB would hamper rule of law or fair activities of the bank. Many believe that the appointment is a small reward from the ruling establishment to ABM Khairul Haque for his verdict declaring the caretaker government system unconstitutional and illegal which prompted the Awami League government to scrap the caretaker government system from the Constitution despite widespread criticism from local and international bodies. During his tenure, Justice Haque delivered verdicts of a string of high-profile cases but he came to the spotlight after his verdict declaring the caretaker government system unconstitutional. “This is the first instance of employing a former Chief Justice by a private commercial bank. I believe that the authority has appointed him following pressure from the government,” Dr Asaduzzaman Khan Ripon, a spokesperson of BNP told The New Nation on Thursday.However, ABM Khairul Haque said, “My appointment as Law Commission Chairman is contractual. But if I find that it is improper to continue with both the jobs simultaneously, I shall quit one.” “So far, he did not find anything wrong to continue his service as the Law Commission Chairman while serving the bank as an adviser,” he said.Justice Haque said that he joined the bank due to repeated requests from different quarters. “A lot of people requested me to take the job and at one stage I have accepted the offer,” said the former chief justice who is currently serving as the Chairman of the Law Commission.
