Staff Reporter :The judges of the Supreme Court will have to sign the copy of verdicts on all cases within six months from the date of delivery unless the case is exceptional. The information was known from the code of conduct provided to the judges of the Appellate Division.The SC has prepared the code of conduct after the disposal of the suspension case of High Court’s additional judge Syed Shahidur Rahman. Amidst the raging debate signing judgements after retirement, the apex court’s observation has come in the full verdict that upheld a HC’s verdict about the 2004 presidential decision to remove judge Shahidur Rahman. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha delivered the verdict on September 16 last year and said that the 2004 presidential decision was illegal. The 103-page full verdict in Shahidur Rahman’s case was published on the Supreme Court’s website on Thursday. It includes several points on how judges should maintain the court’s code of conduct. The substance of the points– “A Judge should dispose of promptly the business of the court including avoiding inordinate delay in delivering judgements/ orders. In no case a judgement shall be signed not later than six months of the date of delivery of judgement in exceptional cases.” Urging the judges to sign the verdicts they deliver as soon as possible, Chief Justice SK Sinha last month said that signing judgements after retiring was unconstitutional. His comments had created a debate in both the judiciary and political arena.Syed Shahidur Rahman was appointed an HC Division additional judge in April 2003. That year, a woman named Nasim Sultana accused the judge of having taken Tk 50,000 in bribes to grant bail to a person implicated in a Woman and Child Repression Case.She informed the matter to Rokanuddin Mahmud, the then president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who then informed the then Chief Justice KM Hasan in October 14 same year. Six days later, KM Hasan wrote about the matter to the then President Iajuddin Ahmed.Ten days later, the President ordered investigation into the allegation of the accusation in a Supreme Judicial Council. The Law Ministry had issued a circular to that end.Chief Justice KM Hasan, Justice Ruhul Amin and Justice Md Fazlul Karim submitted their investigation report on January 26 in 2004, which said the charge against Syed Shahidur Rahman had not been proved beyond doubt but could not be dismissed as entirely baseless. It also suggested that Syed Shahidur Rahman should not continue as an additional judge.The President then removed him on April 20 in 2004. The High Court on February 2 in 2005, after Syed Shahidur Rahman had moved it challenging the presidential decision, declared the move illegal. Later, Supreme Court lawyer Idrisur Rahman filed a petition for permission to appeal against the High Court verdict. The Appellate Division on April 25 stayed that verdict for six months, granting the appeal. After nine years, the verdict on the appeal came in September last year.
