Bangladesh Democratic Lawyers’ Association holds a discussion on freedom of judiciary at Supreme Court Lawyers Association auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Former chief justice Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury said on Tuesday that the judiciary was now on the verge of collapse and urged lawyers to wage movement to save the judiciary and protect its independence.
At a discussion on the independence of the judiciary and current situation, Justice Mahmudul Amin said that a recently retired Appellate Division judge was destroying the judiciary by making statements to the media against the chief justice.
Gana Forum president Kamal Hossain, also a senior jurist, recently retired High Court judge Nozrul Islam Choudhury, Supreme Court lawyers Shahdeen Malik and Subrata Chowdhury, among others, addressed in the meeting organised by Bangladesh Ganatantric Ainjibi Sammiti at the Supreme Court Bar Association building.
Justice Mahmudul Amin said that the recently retired Appellate Division judge proved himself as a ‘sadist’ as described by an lawmaker in parliament.
He also asked the government who had promoted the judge was to the Appellate Division although he was termed ‘sadist’ who derived pleasure from humiliating people.
He criticised lawmakers for their recent remarks in parliament about the chief justice, SK Sinha.
Making statements in parliament about the chief justice proves how much the lawmakers lacked knowledge, he said.
Justice Mahmudul Amin, however, differed with Justice SK Sinha that writing verdict after retirement was illegal.
He said a retired judge should complete the writing of verdict in a reasonable time and rules should be framed on how a judge should complete the pending judgements after retirement.
He said that during his tenure, judges were usually given 15 days after retirement to complete pending judgements.
Changing order potion of a pronounced verdict is a criminal offence, said Justice Mahmudul Amin, adding, ‘But this was happened.’
He said that he was surprised that now-a-days judges did not write verdict even 18 months after retirement.
Source: New Age
