Three High Court Division judges鈥擩ustice Salma Masud Chowdhury, Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque鈥攔esigned on Tuesday after spending five years barred from performing judicial duties due to allegations of misconduct.
The judges, under scrutiny by the Supreme Judicial Council for alleged misconduct during the Awami League regime, submitted their resignations in separate letters addressed to the president.
鈥楾he resignations were tendered in accordance with Article 96(4) of the constitution, and the president has accepted them,鈥� stated a notification issued by law secretary Sheikh Abu Taher on Wednesday.
The move marked the culmination of prolonged inquiries into their alleged conduct, which had kept them away from the bench since the investigations began in 2019.聽聽聽聽
Salma is scheduled to retire on December 13, 2024, Reza on November 28, 2025 and Zahirul on January 31, 2026.
The resignation came 12 days after the Supreme Court Administration briefed journalists that the Supreme Judicial Council initiated a review of information regarding several High Court judges, following a series of meetings.
The Supreme Judicial Council, established after the Appellate Division鈥檚 October 19 ruling on the 16th amendment case, is currently composed of chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.
On October 19, a six-member bench led by the chief justice reinstated the constitutional provision for the Supreme Judicial Council, paving the way for the removal of Supreme Court judges on grounds of misconduct or incapacity.
This ruling concluded a decade-long legal dispute over the judicial removal process.
The Appellate Division鈥檚 action came days after the Supreme Court administration announced on October 16 that 12 High Court judges would be kept out of the court in response to student-led protests against perceived judicial discrimination during 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Amid a student-led mass uprising, Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India on August 5.
Supreme Court former spokesman Saifur Rahman in a statement on August 23, 2019 told the media that Justice Salma, Justice Reza and Justice Zahir had taken leave for a week from August 22, 2019 after the chief justice allocated them no court.
According to the statement, the decision to withdraw the judicial powers of the three judges was taken in consultation with the president after primary inquiries against them.
鈥楢fter the judges were informed that their judicial powers had been withdrawn they applied for the leave,鈥� Saifur said while delivering the statement to reporters.
The Supreme Judicial Council, composed of then chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Muhammad Imman Ali and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, on March 8, 2018 asked Justice Reza to explain in writing his position over the allegation brought against him by his colleague Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman on February 1, 2018 over an incident of offering bribe.聽聽
The complaint against Justice Salma and Justice Zahirul is that they issued 鈥榓n absolutely illegal order directing the Artha Rin Adalat to decree two suits in a specified manner which has eroded the confidence of the litigants to the suits and will have the effect of undermining the credibility of the judiciary as a whole,鈥� according to an Appellate Division judgment.
A seven-member full bench chaired by then chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain pronounced the judgment on May 16, 2019, and the court released the full text of the judgment in 2019.
Then attorney general AM Amin Uddin told journalists that the then government could not take action against the three judges until the Appellate Division disposed of the review petition against the 16th amendment verdict on the Supreme Court judges removal issue.
Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque faced allegations of offering a bribe to a fellow judge, Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman, during a dispute over the parliamentary membership of Awami League leader Nizam Hazari.
According to complaints, Reza offered Saifur a briefcase of money, allegedly arranged by Hazari, at his Feni residence.
The allegations against Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque stem from an order they issued in 2017.
The order directed the Artha Rin Adalat (Money Loan Court) to decree two suits in a specific manner, allegedly undermining public confidence in the judiciary.
The Appellate Division, in a 2019 judgment, nullified the High Court order and decrees, citing the judges鈥� actions as damaging to the judiciary鈥檚 credibility.
The ruling noted that the decrees were obtained through collusion and fraud and granted final relief in an interim order, a clear violation of judicial norms.
