A number of judges will be appointed to the Supreme Court within three to four days on the recommendation of the chief justice, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told The Daily Star yesterday.
"Appointment of new judges to the apex court is underway," he said.
Insiders say Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque about a month ago recommended that the president appoint four senior High Court judges -- Justice MA Wahhab Miah, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice M Imman Ali -- to the Appellate Division.
The law minister yesterday said his office had already sent the CJ's recommendation file to the Prime Minister's Office to forward it to the president.
The file has yet to return to the Ministry of Law, Shafique added.
He however could not confirm whether all the four judges, as recommended by the CJ, would be appointed at this phase, as nine HC judges have contested his recommendation.
"Appointment of the judges is up to the president," the minister said.
Sources say the nine HC judges, who had been dropped during the BNP-Jamaat alliance rule, still stick to their decision that they would go on leave for an indefinite period or even step down if two of them are not appointed.
They also met the law minister at his Indira Road residence and requested him to consider their demand to appoint Justice Md Momtazuddin Ahmed and Justice Md Shamsul Huda to the apex court to uphold their seniority.
Justice Ahmed and Justice Huda are senior to a few of the four judges, who were recommended by the CJ.
The deprived judges feel their seniority has been ignored due to an illegal decision of the BNP-Jamaat-led government that has been cancelled by the SC later.
They also feel if their seniority is not upheld and maintained in respect of elevating them to the Appellate Division, that decision will be recognised and approved, the sources say.
The deprived judges are Justice Md Momtazuddin Ahmed, Justice Md Shamsul Huda, Justice Faruque Ahmed, Justice Hasan Fayez Siddique, Justice Md Abdul Hye, Justice Md Abdur Razzaque, Justice Marzi-ul Huq, Justice Md Nizamul Huq and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik.
They were reappointed on March 24, 2009 following an SC verdict. The verdict, however, did not permit the government to appoint them with seniority.
There are only four judges in the Appellate Division now, as seven out of total 11 have retired.
The four sitting judges are Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque, Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman, Justice Md Muzammel Hossain and Justice SK Sinha.