Issues dealt in Supreme Judicial Council

The Supreme Judicial Council got the power to remove judges after the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution was finally annulled (rejected on review) in the Appellate Division. From now on, any complaint against the judges will be investigated first and the report will be sent to the President. If the President sends it to the Supreme Judicial Council for consideration, the Council will dispose of the complaint subject to a full investigation. In other words, the Supreme Judicial Council has been given the power to punish judges in any way, starting from their removal.

Regarding the Supreme Judicial Council, Article 96 of the Constitution states, 2) No judge shall be removed from office except in accordance with the provisions of Article 3. 3) There shall be a Supreme Judicial Council, in this article referred to as the council, which shall consist of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, and the two next senior Judges: Provided that if, at any time, the Council is inquiring into the capacity or conduct of a Judge who is a member of the Council, or a member of the Council is absent or is unable to act due to illness or other cause, the Judge who is next in seniority to those who are members of the Council shall act as such member. 4) The function of the Council shall be- (a) to prescribe a Code of Conduct to be observed by the Judges; and (b) to inquire into the capacity or conduct of a Judge or of any other functionary who is not removable from office except in like manner as a Judge. 5) Where, upon any information received from the Council or from any other source, the President has reason to apprehend that a Judge- may have ceased to be capable of properly performing the functions of his office by reason of physical or mental incapacity, or may have been guilty of gross misconduct, the President may direct the Council to inquire into the matter and report its finding and 6) The Council shall regulate its own proceedings for the purpose of investigations under this Article and shall have the same powers as the Supreme Court in the issue and enforcement of licences.

Regarding the matter, Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman said, "So far, a judge has been removed through the Supreme Judicial Council. That too on April 20, 2004. He said, "No action is taken directly against the accused judge if any complaint is made or received in the Supreme Judicial Council." Rather, its process is quite long. As such, the complaint is indeed a preliminary inquiry. There, the alleged misconduct or corruption of the judge is investigated. The report of that inquiry was sent to the President. The Office of the President scrutinized it and sent it back to the Supreme Judicial Council. But here the President's decision is mechanical. After that the Supreme Judicial Council conducted a full investigation and gave a report and action was taken based on it.