The High Court has suspended the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s fresh recruitment process for six months after 33 candidates challenged cancellation of an earlier hiring round that had progressed to viva voce.
A bench comprising Justice Fatema Najib and Justice AFM Saiful Karim on 12 January issued a Rule Nisi asking the government and the FRC to explain why scrapping the 2023 recruitment and launching a new one should not be declared illegal and malafide, lawyers said.
The court also stayed the circular issued on 31 December 2025 for the same 15 permanent posts, effectively halting the new process.
The dispute stems from a recruitment drive announced on 31 October 2023 for 15 permanent positions at the FRC, the audit and financial reporting regulator established in 2015.
More than 9,000 applicants paid fees and sat for a written examination on 30 April 2024, where 207 candidates qualified.
Viva examinations were completed between 30 November 2024 and 5 January 2025 after an initial suspension, according to the petition and documents seen by TIMES of Bangladesh.
The petitioners said they were assured that final results would be published soon, but more than six months passed without any outcome.
In May 2025, FRC Chairman Sajjad Hossain Bhuiyan informed the Finance Ministry Secretary and then Additional Secretary Mohammad Abu Yusuf of two anonymous complaints related to the first recruitment process.
Petitioners’ lawyer Saleh Mahmud alleged that the Finance Ministry halted the recruitment based solely on anonymous complaints without conducting any investigation or presenting evidence.
He claimed that some contractual or outsourced FRC employees who failed the examinations submitted the complaints to protect their positions.
On 25 May 2025, the Finance Ministry formally directed the FRC to cancel the entire recruitment, citing concerns that the process “might be compromised”, according to the petition.
The two anonymous letters alleged that former FRC Chairman Hamid Ullah Bhuiyan held the recruitment test at the University of Dhaka to favour his university students with political loyalty during the Awami League government and that they benefitted from “leaked questions”.
The petitioner candidates argued that no inquiry or substantiation was conducted to verify the complaints, which they alleged were backed by temporary FRC officials who failed in the recruitment process.
FRC Chairman Sajjad Hossain Bhuiyan declined to comment, saying the matter is sub judice.
The FRC later issued a new recruitment circular in December 2025 for the same posts while the earlier process remained unresolved.
The FRC approached the Appellate Division seeking relief from the stay order, but the apex court rejected the application, effectively upholding the High Court’s decision.
The petitioners said several candidates have since crossed the 32-year age limit for government jobs, meaning cancellation would permanently deprive them of future opportunities.
They described the cancellation as illegal and unconstitutional, alleging violations of Articles 27, 29 and 31 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before the law, equal opportunity in public employment and legal protection.
The High Court directed the Finance Division, the FRC and a senior assistant secretary of the Finance Ministry to respond to the Rule within three weeks.
The court instructed the petitioners to serve official notices within three working days, warning that failure to do so would result in the stay being vacated.
Declining TIMES’ request for a comment, Mohammad Abu Yusuf said earlier this week he is currently serving at the Ministry of Social Welfare.
The petitioners have sought publication of the final results of the 2023 recruitment, a permanent injunction against initiating new recruitment for the same posts and protection of their constitutional rights.
