Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was put under “huge pressure” to go on leave, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Zainul Abedin has alleged.
Zainul, who is also vice chairman of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was speaking to reporters on Tuesday after an executive committee meeting of the SCBA at the Supreme Court in Dhaka.
“You [the reporters] know, the nation knows and people around the world know that a particular political party and the government puts pressure on the chief justice in different ways following a verdict,” the SCBA president said. “We think he was sent on leave as part of that pressure.”
In the context of a widespread debate swirling over the sudden leave of the chief justice, the SCBA executive committee called an urgent meeting at 9am, when several decisions were taken.
“The SCBA thinks that huge pressure was exerted on him [Chief Justice Sinha] so that he goes on a month’s leave,” Zainul said.
The association held another urgent meeting at 3pm to discuss whether or not the chief justice was compelled to go on leave. Zainul said the chief justice had sent a letter asking the association members to be present.
“We were all present accordingly. We have the right to know why he left the court premises without telling us anything and why he went on leave,” Zainul said.
“That is why we decided that the SCBA will continue its efforts to dig out the truth behind this.”
Zainul said they would decide on their course of action in this regard after holding a meeting with senior lawyers.
The story was first published on Bangla Tribune