23 additional judges at HC take oath

Chief justice read out the oath of the newly appointed judges at the judges’ lounge in the Supreme Court on 9 October. Photo: Collected

The High Court's (HC) 23 newly appointed additional judges have taken oath this morning (9 October).

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed read out the oath of the newly appointed judges at the judges' lounge in the Supreme Court at 11am.

Supreme Court Registrar General Aziz Ahmed conducted the oath ceremony.

Judges of both the divisions of the Supreme Court, attorney general and senior lawyers and family members of the newly-appointed judges were present on the occasion, among others.

On Tuesday (8 October), the government appointed the judges, raising the number of judges at the HC division to 101.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin made the appointment for a two-year term in line with Article 98 of the Constitution, said a Law and Justice Division gazette notification.

Signed by Law Secretary Md Golam Rabbani, the notification said the appointment will come into effect from the date of their oath.

The 23 new additional judges are- Md Golam Martuza Mazumder, Syed Enayet Hossain, Md Monsur Alam, Syed Jahed Mansur, KM Rasheduzzaman Raja, Md Zabid Hossain, Mubina Asaf, Qazi Waliul Islam, Ainun Nahar Siddiqua, Md Abdul Mannan, Tamanna Rahman, Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud, Md Hamidur Rahman, Nasrin Akter, Sathika Hossain, Syed Mohammad Tajrul Hossain, Md Toufik Inam, Eusuf Abdullah Sumon, Sheikh Tahsin Ali, Foyej Ahmed, Md Sogir Hossain, Shikder Mahmudur Razee and Debashish Roy Chowdhury.

Among them are six retired district judges, one serving as a district judge, seven deputy attorney generals and nine Supreme Court lawyers.

Contacted, Supreme Court Spokesperson (Special Officer) Md Moazzem Hossain said Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed will read the oath of the newly appointed judges in the Supreme Court at 11am today.

Eligibility of being appointed as a judge

According to Article 95 (2) of the Constitution, a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge unless he is a citizen of Bangladesh and has, for not less than ten years, been an advocate of the Supreme Court; or has, for not less than ten years, held judicial office in the territory of Bangladesh; or has such qualifications as may be prescribed by law for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.

The law for appointing a judge to the Supreme Court has not been made over the past five decades. In the past, some appointments triggered controversies.