The official leave period of Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is scheduled to end today (Friday, November 10). He left Dhaka for Australia on October 13, and until the filing of this report, information about his return to Bangladesh was not found anywhere. Under the current circumstances, a question is becoming increasingly apparent, will the chief justice return?

Responding to a query over the matter, Supreme Court Special Officer Saifur Rahman told the Bangla Tribune: “We have no information regarding his return.” Meanwhile, terming the situation extraordinary, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said whatever the chief justice plans to do now, will make little difference. Chief Justice Sinha had earlier informed the president that he will be on leave from October 13 to November 10 this year.

Commenting on Sinha’s possible plans to extend his leave, Mahbubey Alam said: “Informing the president about extending his leave period is the official approach. However, the chief justice cannot be treated like any other official. “Other justices have decided not to share the bench with him, so he has effectively become a burden for the judiciary,” the attorney general added.

Mahbubey Alam also made it clear that he has no idea about when the chief justice will return home. The law minister could not be reached for comments over the matter. On the other hand, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Advocate Joynal Abedin said only the chief justice knows when he will return home. “Surendra Kumar Sinha will remain the chief justice of Bangladesh until the end of his tenure, even if his leave ends and he plans to stay abroad. The acting chief justice will continue to shoulder his responsibilities in his absence,” he assured.

In could be noted, Chief Justice Sinha’s relationship with the government became tense as he expressed dissatisfaction over the Law Ministry’s delay in publishing a gazette notification on rules determining discipline and conduct for lower court judges. The Supreme Court on July 3 unanimously declared the 16th Amendment to the constitution illegal, stripping the parliament of the power to impeach apex court judges. Things took a turn for the worse as Chief Justice Sinha faced barrages of criticism, both professional and personal, from different quarters of the government and the prime minister herself, following the 16th Amendment verdict.

Later, the chief justice took a leave and left Dhaka for Australia on October 13. However, before leaving the country, he told the reporters that he was not physically ill, completely contradicting a government narrative that he took a month-long leave on grounds of ill health. He added that he was quite embarrassed about how a specific political quarter, including some ministers and the prime minister herself, criticised him over one of his rulings. Chief Justice Sinha was referring to the full verdict in the 16th Amendment to the Constitution case.

Surendra Kumar Sinha was appointed as the chief justice on January 17, 2015, and his tenure will end on January 21, 2018.