Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed today announced ‘zero tolerance’ against corruption in the judiciary, stressing the need for formulating a roadmap to regain the public confidence through establishing transparency and integrity in the judicial process.
“Over the years there has been blatant interference in the judiciary. The values of justice have been destroyed and distorted . . . therefore, in this new Bangladesh, we want to build a judiciary which would become a safe fortress for justice through ensuring fairness and the assurance of rights,” he said.
The chief justice said this while addressing all judges, lawyers and judicial officials from across the country at the Inner Garden of the Supreme Court here.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Professor Dr Asif Nazrul and Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman spoke at the function as special guests. Registrar General of the Supreme Court Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan delivered the welcome address.
Refaat Ahmed said attempts were made to use the judiciary as an instrument of deception, deprivation, oppression and torture, causing a loss to the public confidence in the judiciary.
“But the greatest strength of the judiciary is the trust and confidence of the people. We have to indentify the reasons behind the interruption in the judiciary and the obstacles in this way,” he said, putting emphasise on assessing manpower and infrastructural advantages and disadvantages in the judiciary.
The chief justice also stressed on preparing a roadmap as a way out to build a people-oriented legal system and judicial framework.
“There is no doubt that among the existing problems, the key one is not to separate the judiciary from the executive effectively. We all had been suffering the consequences of it for the last one and a half decade,” he added.
The problems also included lack of transparency and accountability, acute shortage of judges as per case ratio, lack of co-operative spirit between bar and bench, infrastructural crisis in courts and absence of logical and acceptable policy for the transfer and promotion of judges of subordinate courts, the chief justice added.
Besides, Refaat Ahmed said, lack of laws for appointing, making permanent and promoting judges in the High Court and the ignorance to the maintenance of principle of traditional seniority has pulled the judiciary back time and again.
