On impeachment of Judges Bill

The Impeachment of Judges Bill has already been approved by the Cabinet and is awaiting processing in Parliament to pass, as an amendment to Article 96 of the Constitution.
Article 96 of the Constitution of 1972 says: "A Judge shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed pursuant to a resolution of Parliament supported by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of Parliament, on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity."  
The Article 96 was amended and adopted through the Fourth Amendment by the then Awami League (AL) government as follows:
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The issue after the Fifth Amendment introduced by President Zia stands as under: "There shall be a Supreme Judicial Council, in this article referred to as the Council, which shall consist of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, and the two next senior Judges."
The AL government in 1975 amended Article 96 of 1972 Constitution by the Fourth Amendment whereas the Fifth Amendment introducing Supreme Judicial Council, a progressive one, was brought in by Zia in order to amend the Fourth Amendment as it stood at that time.
Should the present government have a sincere intent, it should revisit the whole gamut of impeachment of Judges.
It may be mentioned here that the Indian constitution adopted in 1968: "The Judges (enquiry) Act to amend the said issue to include 100 members of the Lower House and 50 members of the Upper House [a bicameral system] who can bring such proposal and, if agreed to, then Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC), one Judge of the SC, another from the High Court (HC) and  an eminent lawyer nominated by the Speaker to preside over the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) shall constitute the SJC."
We have a very few options like:
A.    To continue with Article 96 having the provision of S.J.C. or it may be further updated with improved modifications/reforms.
B.     We may also consider Article 96 of 1972 with substantial modifications through major amendments/reforms.
    Reforms are needed if 'A' is to be adopted:
(a)    Separation of Judiciary in letter and spirit;
(b)    The Bills I submitted to Parliament, which was published in my book Parliament and I and also in some newspapers, may be adopted with further modifications as are necessary:
(i)    Bill to amend Article 96 regarding embarrassment of Judges;
(ii)    Bill to amend Articles 95 and 96 for appointment of Judges.
Reforms are needed if 'B' is to be adopted :
To avoid hassle for the time being we may consider the Indian reform of S.J.C. save that the Speaker shall nominate a high-profile amicus curiae to preside over the S.J.C. in consultation with the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition. Until we change our monocameral system of the House to a bi-cameral one we continue with CJ, and two next senior Judges of the SC to remain as other members of the S.J.C.
Alternatively, we may also revert to the 1972 Constitution empowering Parliament to impeach Judges. In that case, we would need the following reforms:
Election system should be changed from the existing system of first-past-the-post to a more representative i.e. proportionate representation system;
Need to introduce 'Yes or No' vote system;
Article 70 be repealed and made applicable in case of no-confidence vote to avoid horse-trading and, at the most, be applicable in Budget passing;
MPs have to follow code of conducts, ethics and business interests and make a declaration. The Bills I submitted to Parliament in 2003, which were published in the book Parliament and I, may be adopted with further modifications, if necessary. Amongst others, this may reduce possible coercive actions against Judges and ensure more objective and fair judgment.
 Article 142 did not contain any provision of 'Referendum' until the Fifth Amendment by Zia when Article 142 1(b), IA, IB, IC regarding amendment of certain provisions of the Constitution were introduced.
The government should not revert to the provision of Article 96 of 1972 Constitution but should adopt the reform programme suggested above, if necessary with modifications.
The writer, a former State Minister, Ministry of Civil Aviation &   Tourism and Textiles, is president of South Asian Federation of Accountants(SAFA).
abdul.mannan@bengal-airlift.com