Govt not aware of CJ's return date
Says law minister
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, currently abroad on a leave, did not inform the government of his tentative date of coming home.
“I don't know when the chief justice will back to the country and where he is now. The chief justice did not inform anything to the government,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star yesterday.
Justice SK Sinha has been on leave on health grounds since October 3. He was scheduled to stay abroad till today, a close aide to the chief justice had said before.
Speaking with The Daily Star yesterday, the same person said Justice Sinha is now in Singapore for treatment and his leave will automatically extend until he returns home.
According to a gazette notification issued by the law ministry on October 12, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the most senior judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after Justice Sinha, will carry out duties of the chief justice till November 10 or until the chief justice rejoins office.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday once again said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's rejoining the office of chief justice after his returning home from abroad is quite unlikely.
Amid critical backlash from the ruling quarters over the Supreme Court's verdict on the 16th amendment, Justice SK Sinha left for Australia on October 13, months before his retirement in January next year.
The 16th amendment (scrapped by the SC verdict) to the constitution had empowered the parliament to remove SC judges for incapacity or misconduct.