Staff Reporter :
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Wednesday emphasized the need for formulation of a law for the appointment of High Court judges.
He said, “Formulating the law for the appointment of the judges in the higher judiciary in line with the Constitution is essential in context of the reality. I have become happy to learn that the government has started working to formulate a law for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.”
“If the law is enacted, the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary will be transparent and speedy and the baseless confusion among the people about the appointment of judges will be removed,” added the CJ.
He said it is inevitable that the number of judges is inadequate in proportion to the number of pending cases. The numbers of judges need to be made double in phases at all tiers of courts across the country in order to reduce the backlogs of cases.
Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the remarks at a farewell reception given by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Attorney General’s Office at his last working day on December 15.
The Chief Justice, who will retire on December 30, sit in the courtroom for hearing and disposing of cases for his last working day on Wednesday as the court will go into a two-week annual vacation since Thursday (December 16).
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain also said people’s confidence is the source of the inherent power of an independent judicial system.
He also said, “This is the unwavering belief of the common people in the integrity and impartiality of the judges. In order to gain this confidence of the common people, judges need to be aware of ever-evolving and changing laws, technological excellences and social values, just as on the one hand they must have high moral values and character.”
Quoting former Indian CJ M R Lodha, the outgoing CJ also said, “A Judge must be a person of impeccable integrity and unimpeachable independence. He must be hones to the core with high moral values. When a litigant enters the courtroom, he must feel secured that the Judge, before whom his matter has come, would deliver justice impartially and uninfluenced by any consideration.”
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and SCBA Vice President Muhammad Shafique Ullah accorded farewell to the Chief Justice. Judges of both the divisions of the Supreme Court also attended the farewell programme held in the Appellate Division courtroom.
SCBA Secretary Ruhul Quddus Kazal and five other opposition BNP backed leaders of the association boycotted the traditional felicitation programme alleging that they were not invited by the Supreme Court administration.
Later Kazal along with the five leaders of the association at a press briefing alleged that the Supreme Court administration had been addressing the Attorney General as the President of the association although the post of the President remained vacant after the death of Abdul Matin Khasru on April 14, 2021.
Syed Mahmud Hossain was appointed as the 22nd CJ of Bangladesh on February 2, 2018 after resignation of the then CJ Surendra Kumar Sinha from abroad amid protests of ruling Awami League leaders and lawyers.
