One bench member reluctant to adjudicate

One of the two members of a High Court bench yesterday expressed unwillingness to pass an order on a writ petition seeking directives upon the government to regularise the job of ABM Altaf Hossain as an additional judge at the HC.
The government in June regularised services of five additional HC judges leaving out the name of Altaf, who was appointed as an additional judge in June 2012 along with the others. The government did not mention any reason for the decision.
Altaf filed the writ petition with the HC on Tuesday, saying the government should regularise his job as per the constitution, since the chief justice has recommended appointing him permanently like the five others.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman on Wednesday heard the petition and was scheduled to pass an order yesterday.
When the procedure started yesterday, one judge expressed unwillingess, said the petitioner's lawyer Salahuddin Dolon and Additional Attorney General Murad Reza. But neither mentioned the name of the judge and the reason for his reluctance. The petitioner's lawyer told The Daily Star that the bench would now send the petition to Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, who would assign another HC bench for hearing and adjudicating the petition.