Amid student protests at the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of judges accused of being “partisan, corrupt, and allies of fascists,” 12 judges were barred from judicial work, of which investigations by the Supreme Judicial Council are still ongoing against four judges.
The Supreme Court administration confirmed this information on Saturday.
It is known that among the 12 judges, Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman submitted his resignation on August 31, which was accepted by the President on September 7.
Earlier, on October 15, following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam, then coordinators of the anti-discrimination movement, announced on Facebook that students would surround the High Court demanding the resignation of judges accused of being “partisan, corrupt, and allies of fascists.”
After discussions, the then Registrar General of the Supreme Court, Aziz Ahmed Bhuiya (now a High Court judge), addressed the students on October 16 afternoon.
Speaking on the removal of judges, he said: “The demand you have regarding the resignation of judges—actually, the appointing authority is the President. Any initiative for resignation or removal is taken from the President’s office. The Chief Justice has done what was required of him. For now, the 12 judges will not be assigned any benches. Not assigning benches means they will not participate in judicial work when the court opens on October 20, 2024.”
Meanwhile, after the verdict restoring the 16th Amendment related to the removal of judges, the Supreme Judicial Council was reactivated.
Following this, a three-member Supreme Judicial Council began its work under Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed. The other two members are Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.
When allegations are made against a judge, this council verifies the claims and sends them to the president.
According to the Constitution, the council is formed by the Chief Justice and the two senior-most judges.
The council then begins an investigation into the conduct of the concerned judges.
In a statement, the Supreme Court administration said that on October 16, 2024, following complaints against 12 High Court judges, the Chief Justice refrained from assigning them benches.
Among them, Justice Shahed Nuruddin submitted his resignation to the President on January 30 through a signed letter.
Additionally, two judges (Md Aminul Islam and S M Masud Hossain Dolon) were not appointed permanent judges of the High Court.
They were appointed additional judges on July 31, 2022. On July 30, 2024, instead of making them permanent, the President extended their additional judge term by six months. Their extended term ended on January 30.
Two other judges (Md Ataur Rahman Khan and Ashish Ranjan Das) have already retired. Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan retired on December 30, and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das on January 30, completing their service terms.
After the full investigation of the Supreme Judicial Council, the President removed two judges. Justice Khizir Hayat was removed on March 18, and Justice Khondkar Diliruzzaman on May 21.
Most recently, the president accepted the resignation of High Court Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman.
The court administration said investigations are still ongoing by the council against the remaining four judges.