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National Citizen Party leader Sarjis Alam has hit back at criticism over the appointment of his father-in-law Md Lutfar Rahman as an additional judge of the Supreme Court’s High Court Division.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, he said the appointment followed merit and due process, and that dragging his name into the issue only reflected “narrow-mindedness”, bdnews24.com reports.
The government on Monday appointed 25 new additional judges to the High Court, including nine from the judicial service, nine practising lawyers and seven law officers (deputy attorneys general).
They were sworn in on Tuesday. Among them is Lutfar, who previously served as deputy attorney general.
The controversy grew after Zulkarnain Saer shared the appointment gazette on Facebook, alleging conflicts of interest and noting Lutfar’s family ties with the NCP leader.
Sarjis responded directly under the post, detailing Lutfar’s academic and professional career -- from topping Dhaka University’s law admission tests in the early 1990s, completing his LLB and LLM, qualifying as a lawyer in 1998, and later practising in both the High Court and Appellate Divisions since 2006.
In the post, Sarjis noted Lutfar’s long record as deputy attorney general and his mentorship of over 100 junior lawyers.
“Lutfar earned this honour by fulfilling all conditions and passing every stage of scrutiny by the newly formed Supreme Judicial Appointment Council,” Sarjis wrote.
“To set aside his qualifications and hard work, and instead pull my name into the debate, only shows a narrow mindset.”