A number of ministers and secretaries have found the judiciary standing in the way of the civil administration and holding back the development works. They at a meeting on Monday also viewed that many administrative tasks were hampered due to the interference of the judiciary.
They expressed such views at the regular cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, meeting sources told the Dhaka Tribune.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed recommended that the attorney general’s office become more active to resolve such problem.
LGRD Secretary Abu Alam Mohammad Shahid Khan raised the issue and a number of ministers and secretaries participated in the discussion and shared their experiences citing examples, a number of cabinet members said.
The meeting discussed that the court gave “directives” to the government if it “transferred a peon” after the employee filed a writ petition with the court. They said the administration had to abide by the order which created “problems” in “smooth” operation of the administration.
The meeting also discussed about the face-off between parliament and judiciary.
They referred to the dispute between formed speaker and incumbent President Abdul Hamid and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik centring a Supreme Court land then occupied by the Roads Division.
Hamid on May 29 last year told parliament that people would resist if a government turns autocratic; they would protest if a parliament enacts a law against their interests and likewise, they “stand against a court if it delivers verdicts against them.”
On June 5, the High Court bench of Justice Manik said the speaker had provoked people against the apex court and such comment amounted to sedition. The judge’s comment created huge uproar in the parliament where a number of senior ruling party MPs criticised the judge and even proposed forming supreme judicial council to impeach the judge.
Hamid later in a ruling said Justice Manik had violated the constitution through his comments on the speaker and parliament.
On Monday, the ministers for finance, LGRD, food, civil aviation, and secretaries of the law, LGRD and public administration ministries took part in the discussion, meeting sources said.
But, the prime minister kept mum on the issue, confirmed the meeting sources.
The meeting also discussed about the way out to address the problem considering the issue of contempt of court. However, they could not reach any conclusion to address the issue.
LDRG Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said judges always show their judicial authority, on the other hand, the secretaries show their administrative power.
Food Minister Abdur Razzak referred to the verdict of an Indian court that said: “Once when India produced surplus food grains there was storage crisis. Then the Indian Court ordered to distribute surplus food among the poor. But then the administration responded saying that it was not an issue of the court.”
Sources said at the meeting Finance Minister AMA Muhith suggested that to bring an end to the prevailing crises, the president might hold a meeting with all concerned.
He said the law minister too could take initiatives to address the issue.
Replying to Muhith, the law minister said the attorney general’s office should be more active in this regard, the source said.
