Justice Shamsuddin Manik held in Sylhet border area

The Boarder Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel last night detained AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, a retired judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, while fleeing the country.
“BGB detained Former judge Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik at the border while he was trying to flee to India,” BGB’s Public Relations Officer Shariful Islam told The Daily Star around midnight.
He, however, could not say any further details instantly.
Justice Manik has been co-accused in several cases filed against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her cabinet members and top Awami League leaders recently.
Justice Manik has been at the centre of controversy several times over the years for his judgements and activities during his tenure as judge and after retiring.
Manik was appointed as an additional HC judge on July 3, 2001 for two years. BNP, which came to state powers in 2001, did not confirm his appointment.
On March 2, 2009, Manik was reinstated as a judge in the court following an HC verdict after the AL government came to power.
He was appointed as a permanent HC judge on 25 March 2009.
On June 5, 2012, then-ruling AL lawmakers said in the parliament that Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik had violated the constitution by making “derogatory remarks” about the then-Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Md Abdul Hamid.
Earlier in the same day, during the hearing of a rule, Justice Manik observed that the Speaker (Hamid) had committed an offence tantamount to sedition by commenting in the House on an HC order. He also said the Speaker was completely ignorant of the apex court and the constitution.
Senior AL lawmaker Tofail Ahmed told parliament, “I was surprised to see how Justice Manik spoke against the Speaker and accused him of sedition. We have no words to censure him.”
The same judge, Tofail added, had once punished a traffic police officer for failing to salute him on the road. “I think he is a sadist who gets pleasure by hurting people.”
Tofail also accused Manik of forcefully sitting in business class seats on Biman flight though he bought economy class tickets through the misuse of his position.
On March 31, 2013, he was promoted to the Appellate Division. Manik retired on October 1, 2015. He was removed from the bench on orders from the then chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. Manik had allegedly secretly recorded a conversation between him and Sinha, and published the conversation in The Daily Janakantha.