Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal 1, will retire on December 31. But the next step in this regard is yet to be decided.
Some sources said the judge was not ready to continue the job any further, and for that, the government was working on some options which would be fixed by the next one week – either the government will rearrange the tribunal or dissolve it. The first option will work positively, said officials.
Among the top war criminals, only Motiur Rahman Nizami’s case is waiting for verdict. The tribunal may pronounce it before December 31 as the tribunal 1 chairman retires soon. The tribunal also fixed that day for giving order on indictment of war crimes suspect Jamaat leader Abdus Subhan.
Justice Kabir has been serving as the chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal 1 since December 13 last year after the resignation of Justice Nizamul Huq.
While he was a sitting judge at the High Court Division, Justice Kabir was appointed as the chairman of tribunal 2 on March 22 last year. Afterwards, he was appointed as the chairman of the tribunal 1 on December 13 the same year.
Article 96 (1) of the constitution states that subject to the other provisions of this article, a judge shall hold his office until he attains the age of sixty-seven years.
As per his profile uploaded on the tribunal’s website, Justice Kabir was born on January 1, 1947. So, his retirement date will be December 31 of this year.
Asked, prosecutor Tureen Afroz said the government should take a decision immediately as all the parties of the trials had got enough time to be prepared.
Meanwhile, the tribunal 1 last week fixed every date after election for case proceedings. There is no date before January 7.