12 HC judges kept away from judicial duties

The Supreme Court reopened yesterday after one and a half months, with 12 judges kept away from participating in judicial proceedings.
The decision was made on Wednesday while demonstrations by hundreds of people, mostly students, demonstrated on the SC premises demanding removal of “pro-Awami League fascist judges”.
The High Court judges barred from judicial duty are Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan, Justice Naima Haider, Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif, Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, Justice Ashish Ranjan Das, Justice Khizir Hayat, Justice SM Maniruzzaman, Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman, Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman, Justice Shahed Nuruddin, Justice Md Aminul Islam, and Justice SM Masud Hossain Dolon.
Of them, only Justice Ataur was recruited when the BNP was in power. The rest were appointed during Awami rule.
According to the SC website, the 12 judges were not included in the benches constituted for yesterday’s proceedings. The reason behind the move was not mentioned on the website.
As per the constitution, only the chief justice, now Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, can constitute benches of judges at the Appellate Division and High Court Division.
A source said Justice Ataur and Justice Ashish were excluded for administrative reasons, and the rest faced different allegations raised by a section of lawyers.
SC Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan did not answer calls made by this correspondent.
An official requesting anonymity said the judges were excluded to meet the students’ demands.
The 12 judges were not seen at the chief justice’s greetings exchange event held on the occasion of the reopening of the SC.
On such occasions, the chief justice exchanges greetings with judges, attorney general, SC Bar Association leaders, and lawyers.
During last week’s protests on the SC premises, Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan told the protesting students that 12 judges would not be given benches for now, which meant they would not be taking part in judicial activities.
The protesters then postponed the demonstrations.
Aziz, however, did not disclose the names of the judges that day.
The development comes over two months after then chief justice Obaidul Hassan and five other judges of the Appellate Division of the SC stepped down amid demonstrations.
On August 10, when the SC judges were forced to resign, the students also demanded resignations of “pro-Awami League High Court judges”.
When a BNP delegation met Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on October 4, the party demanded the removal of “partisan judges” from the HC.
In 2019, three HC judges were excluded from judicial procedures for five years in the wake of an enquiry against them.
In the afternoon yesterday, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman and SCBA President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon accorded felicitation to the 23 new HC judges appointed on October 8.