Photo: Bonik Barta After former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's
departure, then Senior Judge Md. Abdul Wahhab Miah of the Appellate Division
assumed the responsibility of Acting Chief Justice. However, just two and a
half months into this role, on February 2, 2018, the government notified Syed
Mahmud Hossain as the 22nd Chief Justice of the country. On that same day,
Wahhab Miah resigned from his position as a judge of the Supreme Court's
Appellate Division.
According to a reliable source who informed Bonik Barta,
this Former Acting Chief Justice Md. Abdul Wahhab Miah of the SC's Appellate
Division may be given a significant national responsibility at any time.
Wahhab Miah was listed as an advocate in the High Court
Division of the Supreme Court in 1976. Later, during the Awami League
administration, he was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court
Division of the Appellate Division on October 24, 1999. On October 24, 2001, he
was elevated from an extra judge to a permanent judge of the High Court
Division. Subsequently, he assumed the role of a judge of the Appellate
Division on February 23, 2011. Due to the leave and resignation of former Chief
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, he served as the Acting Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Bangladesh until February 2, 2018.
In the ruling on the abolition of the caretaker
government system, most judges in the Appellate Division had ruled against it.
Still, Justice Wahhab Miah had expressed support for retaining the caretaker
government. During the announcement of the death penalty for Abdul Quader Molla
for war crimes, Justice Wahhab Miah was the only judge to express dissent.
After the dramatic situation in which Justice S.K. Sinha
went abroad on leave, Justice Wahhab Miah was responsible for the duties.
Subsequently, after accepting Justice Sinha’s resignation in November, the
President instructed Justice Wahhab Miah to continue in the role.
After Justice Sinha went on leave, a Supreme Court
statement quoted the Appellate Division judges under Justice Wahhab Miah’s
leadership as stating that they did not wish to work with him due to
allegations of corruption against him.
During Justice Wahhab Miah's tenure, the tension between
the judiciary and the government over the disciplinary regulations for
subordinate court judges was resolved. Justice Sinha had previously raised
concerns, alleging that the government was attempting to control the judiciary.
