Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme Court has decided not to respond to a parliamentary summons calling itself an independent institution, apex court sources and reports said here.
"The [Supreme Court] judges think that making them accountable to parliament would destroy a basic spirit and structure of the constitution as it ensures separation of power between the three organs of the state," a source familiar with the meeting yesterday told Gulf News preferring anonymity.
He added that the judges at a full court meeting chaired by chief justice ABM Khairul Haque were of unanimous opinion that they were "not accountable to anybody except the Almighty and their own conscience".
Accountability
"The judges also said that despite the supremacy of the British parliament over all organs, it never made the judges accountable to it," the source said.
He said the meeting also decided not to send any representative to parliament or any of its standing committees, if summoned, since it was "not answerable" to the country's legislature.
The apex court's decision followed the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice decision to ask the Supreme Court registrar to appear before its next meeting to clarify alleged irregularities in the appointment of the district and sessions judge, Dhaka.
"We want to clarify our position at an open press conference ... wait for my statement," chairman of the standing committee and senior ruling Awami League lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta told Gulf News when approached for comments.
