First woman judge appointed to Bangladesh Supreme Court

A woman judge was appointed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday for the first time in the judicial history of Bangladesh.
Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana—who passed order directing BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to vacate her cantonment house—is the country’s first woman
judge in the Appellate Division.
The government on Tuesday also appointed three more new judges to the Appellate Division of the SC. They are Justices MA Wahhab Miah, Syed Mahmud Hossain and M Imman Ali. All of them were High Court judges prior to this appointment.
Justice M Imman Ali has become famous for handing down many historic judgments, including one directing the government to release all juvenile prisoners from prisons across the country.
President Zillur Rahman appointed them SC judges as per recommendation of Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque.
The chief justice is likely to administer oath to the new judges this morning.
The total number of judges in the Appellate Division stands at eight including the new ones.
As per rules, the Appellate Division should have 11 judges but it had only four judges, including one who remains abroad on leave, prior to appointment of the new judges.
A bench comprising the chief justice and two judges is not enough to expedite disposal of a total of 5,000 cases, which has been remained pending in the Appellate Division.
SC lawyer Manzill Murshid said the Appellate Division could be divided into two benches —one headed by the chief justice and another led by a senior judge— to dispose of the pending cases quickly if the government appoints three more judges.
Read the original story on the Daily Sun