Desk Report,
Hearing ends, order on August 6
The Appellate Division has set August 6 as the date for the order on the review petition filed by the Appellate Division regarding the ‘warrant of precedence’ of important people of the state.
Hearing ends, order on August 6
A six-member bench headed by Senior Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam of the Appellate Division fixed this date for the order after the hearing on Wednesday.
After the hearing on May 18, the Appellate Division had set July 1 as the date for hearing the review petition. In view of the request of the lawyer of the review petitioner to hear the matter on the scheduled date, the Appellate Division adjourned the hearing until July 15. In continuation of this, the hearing was held yesterday, Tuesday and today, Wednesday. The Appellate Division gave its verdict on January 11, 2015, amending the warrant of precedence. Later, the full verdict was published on November 10, 2016. The verdict said that the ranks of the constitutional office holders of the state should be kept higher and given priority; in addition, the ranks of district judges were raised by eight steps and made equal to secretaries.
The Appellate Division’s observation of the verdict stated that the rank of the Chief Justice should be raised one step to be equal to that of the Speaker of the National Assembly and that important persons of the state (freedom fighters who received the Freedom Award, Ekushey Padak and the title of Bir Uttam for participating in the great freedom struggle) should be properly included in the rank.
The Cabinet Secretary and the then Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) filed separate petitions in 2017 seeking review of the verdict. 90 Deputy Attorneys General and Assistant Attorneys General of the state were parties to the review petition. The hearing on the petition seeking review began on April 27.
Today, senior lawyer Salah Uddin Dolan conducted the hearing in the court on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary, who had filed the review petition. Senior lawyer Prabir Niyogi appeared for the writ petitioner and senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim participated in the hearing on behalf of the Deputy Attorneys General and Assistant Attorneys General. In addition, senior lawyer Md. Ruhul Quddus participated in the hearing as an intervenor (interpreter).
According to the Cabinet Division Rules of Business, the Warrant of Presidency was prepared in 1986. After the approval of the President, it was issued on September 11 of the same year. Later, it was amended at various times.
The last amendment was made in December 2003. Stating that in the preparation of this amended Warrant of Presidency, constitutional posts, posts recognized and defined by the Constitution have been placed below the ranks of the administrative cadre officers, the then Secretary General of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Association Md. Ataur Rahman filed a writ petition in 2006 regarding its validity.
After the final hearing of the writ, on February 4, 2010, the High Court declared the 1986 Warrant of Presidency (Amended) invalid and void along with eight-point directions. The state appealed against the High Court’s verdict in 2011. After hearing the appeal, the Appellate Division delivered its verdict on January 11, 2015. The hearing on the petition filed in 2017 seeking reconsideration of the verdict concluded today.Hearing ends, order on August 6
