Suranjit for Supreme Judicial Council to end JS-judiciary row
Minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta yesterday demanded formation of the Supreme Judicial Council to resolve the existing row between the judiciary and the parliament over a ruling of the Speaker, which was subsequently overturned by a High Court verdict.
"We (parliament) have referred the matter to the chief justice... he now needs to take initiatives for formation of the Supreme Judicial Council to resolve it through hearing," Suranjit told a discussion of Awami Olema League in the capital.
He hoped the chief justice would settle the matter through a "historic verdict".
Suranjit's comments came after the government recently filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court verdict that termed Speaker Abdul Hamid's ruling about an HC judge "ineffective and baseless in the eyes of the law".
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed earlier said the government expected that the Appellate Division would overturn the High Court decision, "upholding the supremacy of the parliament and independence of the judiciary".
A High Court bench on August 27 invalided the Speaker's ruling that a High Court judge had violated the constitution by making "derogatory remarks" about the parliament and the Speaker.
"The Speaker's (Abdul Hamid) ruling is inconsistent with the Constitution and the rules of procedure of Parliament," said the High Court verdict on a writ petition filed by the aggrieved judge AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury.
Hamid gave the ruling in parliament on June 18 saying that an HC judge (Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury) had violated the constitution by commenting that the Speaker's criticism of an earlier court order issued by him was "tantamount to sedition".
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