Posted on 17 March 2008 by Incidental Blogger
Of Generals and Judges
‘The High Court giveth and the Appellate Division taketh away.’
This week, we observed how another decision of the High Court got over turned by the Appellate Division. We hear, a number of “rogue” benches in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court have become a constant source of embarrassment for the present Caretaker Government. In several recent high profile cases we have noted this cat and mouse game of control versus independence of the higher judiciary. This is how, critics say, the highest court of the country consistently upheld the Caretaker Government’s wishes in the end, in case after case. They quip - ‘the High Court (serving the Law) giveth and the Appellate Division (serving the Caretaker) taketh away.’ The interesting factor common to all these over turned decisions is that in each of them, “the Government always wins in the end.” Statistically, that is very odd.
A few more things happened in the last two-three weeks and it is necessary to keep a closer look at how the events unfold:
One
We have read in the newspaper that recently a number of High Court Judges received invitations for Tea at Bangabhaban, which we hear (also according to newspaper reports), was outside the standard protocol. Since this government came to power, a number of such tea parties have been hosted inviting all sorts of luminaries in Bangladesh’s political circles. These parties have already gained reputation as meetings for special advice (read: expert advice from fellow conspirators), appointments in important posts (read: the carrot approach), removal from important posts (read: the sword or khorog approach), pep talks, reprimands and rank pulling (read: the stick approach). The judges in question, however, en masse rejected the invitation (see Daily Inquilab, 5 March 2008). In the grapevines, there are whispers that the Caretaker Government is consulting two very senior lawyers in the country to explore possibilities of initiating Supreme Judicial Council proceedings (ie, procedure required to remove High Court judges) against these ‘rogue’ judges. What purpose such action(s) could possibly serve? Quite a few in fact, for example: purging the higher judiciary of the last of the independent judges whose guts have become too threatening for the government to tolerate; stripping this institution of the last vestiges of its independence and integrity; reminding who is in control; showing others the fate of the non-conformists; making the point that law does not matter, only power does. Or it may just be the case that government is trying to reform the upper judiciary, in a strictly bona fide manner. That is something time would tell.
[Update: Read latest news - Supreme Court judge Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman, who handed down verdicts in a series of high-profile cases, has been stripped of his writ powers]
