Bangladesh Chief Justice S K Sinha has asked retired Supreme Court Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury to return the files of all unfinished judgements instead of speaking to the media.
The Supreme Court (SC) released a statement to the media on the top judge’s order
yesterday.
It came hours after Choudhury talked to journalists on the controversy surrounding the writing of verdicts by judges after retirement.
The statement said the Chief Justice expects Justice Choudhury to immediately send the files of cases whose judgements are yet to be written to the office of the registrar general’s office, rather than continue making comments in the media about verdicts and orders of cases.
The Chief Justice has asked for this measure “so that people seeking justice do not suffer”, the statement read.
The statement implied that the Chief Justice wants return of all files of cases whose verdicts are pending, not judgements and orders written by Justice Choudhury after his
retirement.
The media release was issued by acting registrar general Abu Syed Diljar Hussain after the press conference of the retired judge at the Supreme Court during judicial proceedings came to the notice of Justice Sinha.
Earlier, Choudhury sent a letter requesting the Chief Justice to accept all the judgements and orders he wrote after his
retirement.
Choudhury has written around 15 judgments and 70 orders which were pending with him, he told newsmen.
The retired judge sent the letter to the Chief Justice to ask Justice Abdul Wahab Mia to receive the judgement and orders written by him, Choudhury said.
Justice Wahab was the presiding judge of the bench of the SC where Justice Choudhury was a member.
He wrote to the Chief Justice 18 days after the latter criticised writing judgements after judges’ retirement and said it goes against the constitution.
The Chief Justice came up with the remark in a message on the occasion of the first anniversary of his taking office as the 21st Chief Justice of
Bangladesh.
In the wake of the controversy triggered by the Chief Justice’s remarks, Law Minister Anisul Huq on January 26 told parliament that writing verdict after retirement is not illegal and unconstitutional.