DHAKA: The Supreme Court, in a written statement issued on Saturday (October 14), said that the statement of Chief Justice SK Sinha, who is now abroad with leave, is misleading.  

The statement signed by SC Registrar General Syed Aminul Islam was issued at noon, hours after SK Sinha left for Australia.

The SC statement was released at the SC website.

SK Sinha before leaving the country for Australia on Friday night (October 13) said that he is not sick and will come back home after his leave. He also provided a written statement in this regard.

However, the law minister and the government have been saying since October 03 that the Chief Justice went on the leave for treatment as he had cancer.

The Supreme Court in the statement described SK Sinha's written statement before heading to airport on Friday night as 'misleading and confusing'.

In the statement, it was claimed that President Md Abdul Hamid invited five other judges of the Appellate Division of the apex court to a meeting at the Bangabhaban on September 30. Justice Muhammad Imman Ali could not attend the meeting as he was abroad, but the other judges Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Syed Mahmud Hossain, Hasan Foez Siddique and Mirza Hussain Haider joined the meeting.

The President had handed over documents on the 11 specific charges to the judges at the meeting. The allegations include money laundering, financial misappropriation and moral lapse.

Later, the judges of the Appellate Division met SK Sinha and asked him about the allegations. He could not reply properly. In this backdrop, the judges refused to sit with him in the SC bench, the Supreme Court said in the statement.

BDST: 1735 HRS, OCT 14, 2017
EHJ/SMS