Bangladesh cancels 50 judges, judicial officers’ training in India

ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh has unilaterally cancelled training programme for its 50 judges and judicial officers scheduled for next month in India.

The upcoming training sessions slated for February at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal and a state judicial academy of Madhya Pradesh in India have been cancelled.

The state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported that the decision was disclosed in a circular issued by the Bangladesh’s Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Sunday.

According to the circular, the Supreme Court’s directives led to the cancellation of earlier approval for judicial officials to attend the training programme from February 10 to 20.

The initial approval for 50 officials was granted through a notification issued on December 30.

The nominated officials included Assistant Judges, Senior Assistant Judges, Joint District and Sessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges, District and Sessions Judges and other equivalent-level officers.

The circular mentioned that all expenses for the training were to be borne by the Indian government, with no financial involvement from the government of Bangladesh. The cancelled programme was a part of bilateral understanding reached in April 2017 during then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India.

Under the agreement, judicial training was arranged to enhance the capacity and expertise of Bangladeshi judicial officials at India’s National Judicial Academy and other institutions.