The parliamentary standing committee on Ministry of Law on Sunday submitted its report on the proposed 16th Constitution Amendment Bill with bringing some changes along with deleting the preamble.
Committee Chairman Suranjit Sengupta placed the report following completion of scrutiny for the last seven days. The ten-member JS watchdog also suggested the Law Ministry to enact the law in next three months.
“Under the proposed bill, the Supreme Court is more protected, more honoured and more independent. Whereas some people are saying that it has destroyed the judicial system. In SC Bar Association, the pro-liberation and anti-liberation forces were seen united. Dr Kamal Hossain and Barrister Amirul Islam were seen staging protest along with the war criminals,” Sengupta said while placing the report in the House.
He said, “The President and the Speaker can be impeached through common majority in the JS. On the other hand, it will need two-third majority in the JS to impeach a judge. So, it is unfortunate to hear such criticism against the bill.”
Meanwhile, the JS body unanimously recommended passing of the proposed law in this amended form while it found the preamble of the bill totally “unnecessary.”
In its report, the JS body said a new sentence has been replaced erasing the long-preamble; which said ‘it is essential and ought to further modify the article 96 of the Constitution.’
Besides, the JS body report in its recommendations said ‘the new sections 2, 3 and 4 shall be replaced in the article 96 in spite of previous sections- 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
The standing the committee, however, did not bring any change in the service tenure of Supreme Court judges. As per new bill [as well as section 1 of article 96], the judges can discharge their duties staying in their posts till 67 year of age.
Once the 16th Amendment Bill is passed, the existing Supreme Judicial Council [SJC] will be abolished automatically. And the power to impeach judges for misbehaviour or incapacity will be restored to the parliament led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Amid widespread criticism, Law Minister Anisul Haq placed the bill before the parliament on September 7. The House sent it to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for review asking to submit its report within seven days. Earlier on August 18, the cabinet approved the ‘Constitution [16th Amendment] Act, 2014’.
Parliament sources said the JS body earlier had also suggested the government not to allow MPs to be both complainant and executor while framing the law.
In contrary, Anisul Huq had turned down the JS body’s proposal of holding talks with legal academics, jurists, former judges and other stakeholders before finalising the bill.
Yet, it would need the votes of a two-third majority in the Parliament to impeach the judges and it would also need the order of the President of Republic to execute the impeachment move.
Earlier, the Article 96 of the 1972 Constitution had allowed JS to impeach SC judges. But the Awami League government through the fourth amendment to the Constitution conferred the power on the President in 1975.
Later, President Ziaur Rahman in 1978 cancelled the provision bringing the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and formed the SJC. He [Zia] formed the SJC through a martial law proclamation when there was no parliament following the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
The Council was formed with the chief justice and two other senior most judges of the Appellate Division. It had got authority to conduct investigation against any SC judge and send recommendations to the President for impeachment.
After a longtime legal debate, the High Court in a historic verdict pronounced the Fifth Amendment illegal, where the SJC also had lost its validity, although the article was not restored in the meantime.
The President of the Republic could be impeached through two-third majority in the JS as per Article 54 of the Constitution and the Speaker could be impeached with simple majority of JS members as per Article 74 [ga].
Apart from it, the 57 [2] article of Constitution has given power to bring no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister with simple majority of the parliament members.
