The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has stayed the execution of the High Court verdict ordering the establishment of a separate and independent secretariat for the Supreme Court. At the same time, the date has been set for the hearing of the appeals filed in this regard on June 16th.
The four-member Appellate Division, headed by Zubair Rahman Chowdhury, passed the order following a petition filed by the state.
The appeal filed by Badiul Alam Majumder and senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim was also heard together, the court said. After the hearing, the Appellate Division stayed the execution of the High Court verdict and directed the concerned parties to submit a summary of the appeal.
What was the decision of the High Court?
After hearing a writ filed by seven lawyers on September 2 last year, the High Court declared the current structure of Article 116 of the Constitution contradicts the constitution. At the same time, it was directed to establish a separate and independent secretariat for the Supreme Court within three months.
Later, when a full copy of the verdict was published on April 7th this year, the state filed an appeal on May 21st. At the same time, the application was asked to suspend the effectiveness of the verdict until the appeal is settled.
The establishment and destruction of the secretariat
After the High Court verdict, the interim government issued the ‘Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025’ on 30 November last year. The Supreme Court Secretariat officially began on December 11th.
However, the new government formed after the February 12th national election was reconsidered. The Secretariat was dissolved on April 10 after the Supreme Court Secretariat (Revocation) Bill was passed by the National Assembly.
According to the law, the budget, project and administrative responsibilities of the dissolved secretariat are handed over to the law and justice department. The posts created for the secretariat were also declared extinct.
On May 19th, a notification was issued by attaching 15 judicial officers of the extinct secretariat to the law and justice department of the law ministry.
The next hearing is on June 16th
The last order of the Appellate Division has been adjourned by the High Court verdict. The concerned quarters believe that the Supreme Court may hold a hearing scheduled on June 16th that there may be important legal debates on the question of administrative independence, the need for secretariat and constitutional validity.