Bangladeshi chief justice facing 11 charges resigns

DHAKA, Nov. 12 (NsNewsWire) — Bangladeshi Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha who faces 11 charges including graft and money laundering has resigned from his office, reports Xinhua.
Joynal Abedin, press secretary to the Bangladeshi president, told journalists that Justice Sinha who is now abroad sent his resignation letter to Bangabhaban, the official residence of Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, on Saturday morning.
The resignation letter came a day after his month-long leave on health grounds expired Friday.
According to a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Law Affairs on Oct. 12, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the most senior judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after Justice Sinha, would carry out the duties of the chief justice till Nov. 10 or until Sinha rejoins office.
Amid some reported backlash from the ruling quarters over an apex court verdict on the 16th amendment to the country’s constitution, Sinha left for Australia on Oct. 13.
The apex court scrapped the amendment that empowered parliament to remove the apex judges for incapacity or misconduct.
On Oct. 14, a day after Sinha left for Australia, Bangladeshi Supreme Court said Sinha is facing 11 charges, including money laundering and corruption.
On the same day, the attorney general said Sinha’s rejoining the office of the chief justice after his return from abroad is “a far cry.”
Sinha, the 21st Chief Justice of Bangladesh, is known for a number of high-profile judgments including those on the killing of former Bangladeshi founding President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and several amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh.
Sinha assumed the office of the chairman of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission in June 2011 and the office of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on Jan. 17, 2015 to become the first Hindu to hold the highest judicial post in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Sinha apparently faced sharp criticism from some senior ministers and Awami League leaders over the constitution’s 16th amendment verdict. Some of them even reportedly demanded his resignation accusing him of undermining parliament and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  Enditem