Shawdesh Desk:

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday opened the door for the removal of Supreme Court judges on allegations of misconduct, through a Supreme Judicial Council led by the Chief Justice.

A six-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, reinstated the Supreme Judicial Council while dismissing a petition filed by the Awami League government on December 24, 2017.

Following the verdict, attorney general Md Asaduzzaman informed reporters that there was now no legal barrier preventing the Chief Justice from initiating proceedings against 12 judges who had been kept out of the court for alleged misconduct, via the Supreme Judicial Council.

The government at the time had sought to restore the provision from the 1972 Constitution, which granted Parliament the authority to remove Supreme Court judges.

Attorney general Asaduzzaman mentioned during the hearing that among the 94 reasons presented in the petition, one significant issue was the restoration of Parliament’s power to remove judges.

‘I find no justification to support the reinstatement of parliamentary procedures for the removal of Supreme Court judges, as introduced by the 16th Amendment to the Constitution in 2014,’ the attorney general added.

This amendment replaced the Supreme Judicial Council, which had been incorporated into the Constitution in 1979 through the Fifteenth Amendment during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government’s tenure.