‘Sinha sent on forced leave’

Supreme Court Bar Association president Advocate Zainul Abedin on Tuesday said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha did not go on leave on his own but he was forced to do so.

The SCBA president came up with the remark while talking to reporters in front of the bar association building after an emergency meeting over the CJ’s leave, according to a news agency.

“The Bar Association believes that the CJ was pressurised to take the one-month leave. You know, the whole nation knows that a political party and the government had been pressurising him in many ways after a specific judgment. And as part of the pressure, he was sent on leave on Monday,” Abedin said.

The Bar Association has the right to meet the Chief Justice and know why he has taken the leave and left the court premises without talking to anyone of the bar association because he earlier urged the lawyers to be present at a get-together on Tuesday but suddenly left the court without meeting anyone.

“In history, no Chief Justice had taken leave this way after inviting the lawyers. We must know the reason,” he added.

Zainul Abedin also said Bar Association will continue its efforts to unfold the mystery of the CJ’s leave and reveal it to the nation.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam described the SCBA president’s claim as hollow.

“As the SCBA has been subservient to a particular political party, they’re making such comments to tarnish the judiciary’s image. There’s no merit of the comments made by the SCBA, and there’s no need to talk about this,” he told a press briefing at his office.