Law Minister Anisul Huq expressed his disagreement with Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha over the alleged ‘dual rule’ in judiciary calling his comment ‘self contradictory’.‘I respect the honorable Chief Justice very much. I saw, read and heard his statement and would like to disagree with him with much respect,’ Huq told a news briefing a day on Tuesday after Sinha’s statement on the state of separation of judiciary.He added, ‘On one side you are saying article 96 (of the constitution) is a historical mistake, again you are saying you want to go back to article 116. This is a self-contradiction.’The law minister’s comments came a day after the chief justice alleged that the judiciary was exposed to a state of ‘duel rule’ which hampered the judicial work and suggested reintroduction of the Article 116 of constitution of 1972 in its original form.The High Court earlier this year in a verdict called the 1972 constitutional provision for removing Supreme Court judges was ‘an historical mistake’ as it entrusted the parliament with the authority of impeaching them.The law minister said unlike the 1972 provision, the existing Article 116 (a) of the Constitution guaranteed the freedom of judiciary.‘With this article in existence, I don’t think we need to go back to article 116 in its original form of 1972.’ Huq said.Asked if the law ministry now regulated the judiciary instead of the president, Huq replied in the negative.‘I bent over backwards to accommodate the Supreme Court. I try to follow all the recommendations made by the apex court and try to implement those. The Supreme Court is the last refuge for the people,’ he said.The briefing was held coinciding with the ninth anniversary of separation of judiciary from the executive.
Source : BSS