Court Correspondent

President of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon has attacked the recent appointments of 23 additional judges to the High Court, arguing that the appointments should not have been made without having a clear policy framework in first place.

Speaking to reporters at the Supreme Court premises on Wednesday, Khokon said: "An ordinance should have been passed first, followed by the appointments. Now, judges are being appointed without any ordinance or policy, similar to previous practices. Appointing preferred individuals without a proper framework may not have been the best approach."

Khokon also said he attended the oath-taking ceremony but found many of the newly appointed judges unfamiliar.

"I am acquainted with only a few of them. Some are retired judges, while some are lawyers from the Supreme Court. However, there are a few who haven't handled a single case in three years," he added.

On Tuesday, 23 additional judges were appointed to the High Court Division by order of President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

The law ministry issued the notification, and Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed administered their oaths on Wednesday.

The newly appointed additional judges are Mohammad Golam Mortuza Majumdar, Syed Enayet Hossain, Md Monsur Alam, Syed Zahed Monsur, KM Rasheduzzaman Raja, Mohammad Jabid Hossain, Mubina Asaf, Kazi Waliul Islam, Ainun Nahar Siddiqa, Md Abdul Mannan, Tamanna Rahman, Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud, Md Hamidur Rahman, Nasrin Akter, Sathika Hossain, Syed Mohammad Tazrul Hossain, Mohammad Toufiq Inam, Yousuf Abdullah Suman, Sheikh Tahsin Ali, Faiz Ahmed, Mohammad Sagir Hossain, Sikder Mahmudur Razi, and Debashish Roy Chowdhury.