Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already signed Chief Justice (CJ) Surendra Kumar Sinha's letter that he wrote to the President, Abdul Hamid, asking permission for going abroad.
The minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, Anisul Huq, disclosed this yesterday while talking to reporters after a meeting of the government purchase committee at the Secretariat.
He said the President has not signed the letter yet as he remains out of Dhaka. “The President will decide on this after his return to Dhaka,” he added. “The CJ approves his own leave. But if the CJ wants to go abroad, he must inform it to the President through the law ministry. That’s why the letter was sent to the law ministry,” Huq explained.
The minister said the President appoints an acting chief justice during the absence of the incumbent CJ in accordance with the Constituion.
He also said all the government officials need to have a government order (GO) for going abroad. The CJ had sent the letter through his private secretary for the GO, he added.
The minister further said the letter has so far been signed by him and the Prime Minister. The President would take his decision after reaching the capital from his hometown Kishoreganj, he added.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the CJ, who went on a month-long leave on health grounds, had sent a letter to the President, stating that he wants to stay in Australia for medical treatment. He has already obtained the visa for Australia for himself and his wife, Sushama Sinha.
The letter was routed through the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry.
Meanwhile, the CJ is under the treatment of doctors of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. He was referred to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, for urine and blood tests. He also visited a dentist at Banani for dental check-up.
The Chief Justice, who obtained three years visa from the Australian High Commission, is scheduled to go on retirement on January 31 next year.