Dhaka
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has reinstated the Supreme Judicial Council, granting it the authority to investigate judicial misconduct. This decision also upheld the court’s earlier ruling that deemed the 16th constitutional amendment, which transferred the power to remove judges to Parliament, as ‘illegal.’
The ruling was issued by a six-member bench of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed. According to Supreme Court lawyer Ruhul Kuddus, the verdict reinforces the original constitutional provisions regarding the judiciary’s independence.
The 16th Amendment, passed in January 2014 under then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had stripped the Supreme Judicial Council of its power to impeach judges for incompetence or misconduct. In May 2016, a HC bench declared the amendment unconstitutional, a decision later upheld by a seven-judge Appellate Division in July 2017. Following this, the Hasina government sought a review of the ruling, which culminated in the Supreme Court’s recent judgment.
The 2017 ruling led to significant tensions between the judiciary and the Hasina government, resulting in the forced resignation of then Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who has remained in exile since.
A recent student-led uprising ousted Hasina, who had ruled for nearly 15 years. Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has since taken charge as the Chief Adviser of the interim government, which has begun arresting several ministers from the former regime.
