<%-- Page Title--%> Reviewing The Views <%-- End Page Title--%>

June 6, 2004

'How to have experienced judges in the Supreme Court'

I read the law-opinion written by Mr Hasanat Alamgir under the above caption. I do not agree with all the observations made by Mr Alamgir. In the article he has tried to say that only 20% of the appointment of High Court Justices are from the lower judiciary while the rest are from the Advocates practicing at the Supreme Court. This figure is not correct if we consider the number of appointments over the last decade or so. Justices are appointed from both the lower judiciary and from amongst the members of the Bar. Moreover what is the problem in appointing learned lawyers as Justices? or should one ask -- what are the merits in appointing Judges as Justices of the High Court? It is not true that the lower court Judges have no political inclination personally and it is not true that just because they acted as Judges they are automatically and mechanically well-equipped to become Supreme Court Judges (as contended by Mr Alamgir). On the other hand we must consider the advantages of Advocates of the Supreme Court who are appointed as Justices. They not only have the proper qualification and experience of the rules and norms of the Supreme Court but also have sufficient knowledge about those branches of the law that only involve the Supreme Court. For instance there are writ petitions habeas corpus matters, company matters and criminal matters involving inherent powers of the High Court Division, which are exclusively within the knowledge of the Advocates of the Supreme Court as opposed to the Judges of the lower judiciary. Then why did Mr Alamgir think that the lawyers are not as proper persons to be appointed as Justices as the Judges? Perhaps the better view is this -- it does not matter where the Justices are appointed from as long as they are done upon consideration of their seniority, performance and not upon their political affiliation. We do need more experienced and qualified Justices -- this cannot be denied. In my opinion, we require quality rather than quantity as far as Justices are concerned.

Rehan Husain, Barrister-at-law, practicing at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.