The Supreme Court snatched this big right from the Parliament of Bangladesh, the Supreme Judicial Council was also restored

Dhaka: The Supreme Court, which had imposed a ban on about 10 judges of the High Court under pressure from Bangladeshi students this week, has this time taken away a major power from the country’s Parliament. This has created a stir in Bangladesh. The country’s Supreme Court on Sunday also reinstated the Supreme Judicial Council with the right to investigate allegations of judicial misconduct. The apex court also upheld its previous decision in which the 16th Constitutional Amendment was declared “illegal”, under which the right to remove judges was transferred to the Parliament. But the Supreme Court has now withdrawn this right from the Parliament.

“The order was passed by a six-member bench of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed,” Supreme Court lawyer Ruhul Quddus told reporters after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict. Quddus, who was present at the hearing, said the verdict strengthened the basic constitutional provisions. The verdict also means the repeal of the 16th Constitutional Amendment passed during the reign of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, under which the task of impeaching judges was handed over to Parliament instead of the Supreme Judicial Council comprising Supreme Court judges.

What was the 16th Amendment of Bangladesh?

Bangladesh’s Sixteenth Amendment was passed in January 2014, which deprived the Supreme Judicial Council of its power to remove judges for incapacity or misconduct. However, in May 2016, a three-member bench of the High Court declared the 16th Amendment unconstitutional, which was challenged by the government in January 2017. A seven-judge appellate bench led by then Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in July 2017 upheld the High Court’s verdict declaring the 16th Constitutional Amendment “illegal”. Following the verdict, the then-Hasina government filed a petition in the apex court seeking a review of the verdict, which was disposed of with the apex court’s Sunday verdict.

There was tension between the Supreme Court and Sheikh Hasina regarding this decision.

The 2017 Supreme Court verdict on the matter brought Sinha into an implicit confrontation with the then Sheikh Hasina government, forcing him to resign from his post while abroad and he has been out of Bangladesh since then. A student-led movement ended Hasina’s nearly 15-year rule and she was forced to leave the country on August 5. Four days later, Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus took over as the chief adviser to the interim government. Since taking power, the new administration has arrested several ministers and leaders of Hasina’s then-government.