The Supreme Court (SC) today said members of the apex Appellate Division earlier this month decided not to sit in the bench with Chief Justice SK Sinha against the backdrop of a series of graft and other "grave" charges brought to their notice by the president.
A Supreme Court issued the notification against the backdrop of Sinha's statement overnight ahead of his departure to Australia saying a "political quarter, lawyers, and especially some honourable ministers of the government and the honourable prime minister are criticising me recently over a verdict" which embarrassed him.
"This written statement (of Sinha) is misleading," read the Supreme Court statement signed by its Registrar General Syed Aminul Islam.
It said President M Abdul Hamid on September 30, invited all the five apex court judges to Bangabhaban barring the chief justice while four of them met him as the fifth one, Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, was abroad at that time.
The statement read Justice Md. Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, and Justice Mirza Hussain Haider held a long discussion with the president.
"At one stage, the honorable president handed over to them the evidences of 11 specific allegations against Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha," it said adding that the allegations included some grave charges like money laundering, financial irregularities, corruption and moral lapses.
According to the statement on Justice Imman Ali's return home the five Appellate Division judges held a meeting on October 1 and reviewed the 11 allegations and decided to discuss with Sinha over the issue.
"(They decided) if he (Sinha) fails to give any satisfactory explanation or reply to the allegations it will not be possible on their part to sit with him in the bench to deliver justice," it read.
They five judges, it said, then met the chief justice at his official residence on the same day fixing an appointment and held a detailed discussion with him regarding the allegations.
"But despite long discussion the five judges of Appellate Division didn't get any acceptable explanation or reply from him and so all of them clearly conveyed tom him that until the disposal of those charges it will not be possible for them to share the bench with him to deliver justice," it read.
At this stage, the statement said, Sinha clearly said that in that case, "he will resign" but he would let them know about his final decision the next day on October 2, 2017.
"(But) on October 2, 2017, without informing anything to those aforesaid judges, he filed an application to the honorable president seeking one month leave and the president subsequently approved it," the statement said.
Simultaneously, it said, in line with the Article 97 of the constitution the president entrusted senior most judge of the Appellate Division Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah with the responsibility of discharging as the chief justice in the absence of Justice Sinha.
"It is to be noted, the post of chief justice is an institution. No statement was issued earlier from the Supreme Court for the sake of upholding the dignity of this post and the judiciary. But this statement has been issued in the context of emerging circumstances as ordered (by the apex court," the statement read.
Source: BSS