SK Sinha promises to work for judiciary\\\'s full independence
Monday, 19 January 2015
A day after taking over, Chief Justice (CJ) Surendra Kumar Sinha promised on Sunday to put in his sincere efforts to ensure the judiciary's full independence, reports UNB.
Popularly known as SK Sinha who took over as the country's 21st CJ on Saturday, came up with the commitment before the members of the bench and the bar at a traditional felicitation accorded to him jointly by the Attorney General's Office and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), dominated by pro-BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami lawyers.
Calling upon all to work together in combating all kinds of terrorist acts in the country, the CJ said Bangladesh as a unitary state and democratic country always fought against terrorist acts in the past and now resist all sorts of evil activities.
"We all know that innocent people often suffer pitiable fate due to desperate terrorist activities. It's not possible to eliminate terrorist acts condemning on one hand and supporting and tolerating that on the other," Sinha told his audience.
Held at the courtroom 1 of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, most members of both the divisions of the Supreme Court and several hundred lawyers attended the long practice apex court traditional ceremony on the first day of his office.
Responding to the observations and demands by SCBA president Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Sinha said, "The lower court is not governed by the Law Ministry, it is rather under our control to a large extent."
About the appointment of judges to lower courts, the CJ said, "The appointment of lower court judges is done in a transparent manner under a set rule. "But the appointment of higher court judges is not at my domain."
Warmly felicitating the new CJ, the SCBA president, referring to the situation at the lower courts, alleged that after the implementation of the SC judgment on the separation of the judiciary in October 2007, the government has retained control over it, including trial, transfer and posting of the judges. As a result, the lower judiciary faces troubls in dispensation of justice.