A lawyer yesterday challenged the government move to get back power to impeach Supreme Court judges as he lodged a writ petition with the High Court.
Petitioner Eunus Ali Akond told the Dhaka Tribune that the bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman might hear the plea today. “If the parliament gets back the impeachment authority, the judiciary cannot function independently,” he said.
On July 16, Law Minister Anisul Huq hinted that the government had been working on probable restoration of the legislature’s authority over the Supreme Court.
On June 26, the Law Commission, the lone government body, suggesting legal reforms, submitted a report on the ways in which backlog of pending cases can be reduced, suggesting restoration of article 96 of the 1972 constitution.
Military ruler Ziaur Rahman, also BNP founder, after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, had unlawfully amended Article 96, curtailing the authority of the legislature over the judiciary.
Zia also introduced a new provision for the judiciary’s accountability – the Supreme Judicial Council.