The High Court on Tuesday delivered a landmark verdict restoring the Supreme Court’s authority over the control and discipline of subordinate court judges, reversing constitutional changes that had vested this power in the President. The court also directed the government to establish a separate judicial secretariat within three months to ensure administrative autonomy for the judiciary.
A division bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury pronounced the judgment, declaring the rule in a writ petition as “maintainable” and invalidating the amendments to Article 116 of the Constitution. The court reinstated the original version of the article as it appeared in the 1972 Constitution.
The verdict came in response to a writ petition filed on 25 August last year by seven Supreme Court lawyers, challenging the constitutionality of the existing Article 116 and the Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules, 2017. The petition also sought directives for the formation of a separate judicial secretariat.
The petitioners are Mohammad Saddam Hossain, Md. Zahirul Islam, Mostafizur Rahman, Abdullah Sadiq, Md. Mizanul Haque, Aminul Islam Shakil, and Zayed Bin Amzad.
Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir argued on behalf of the petitioners. Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman represented the state, while senior advocate Sharif Bhuiyan appeared as amicus curiae. Advocate Ahsanul Karim joined as an intervener.
An earlier bench led by Justice Farah Mahbub (now a judge of the Appellate Division) and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury had issued a rule on 27 October last year. The rule questioned why the current form of Article 116 and the 2017 rules should not be declared unconstitutional and why a separate judicial secretariat should not be established.
The Law Ministry’s two secretaries and the Supreme Court’s Registrar General were asked to respond to the rule. The Registrar General was also directed to submit a progress report on the formation of the judicial secretariat within 60 days.
Following Justice Farah Mahbub’s elevation on 25 March, Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed reassigned the case to the current bench. After several days of hearings, the High Court set 2 September for the verdict.
Legal analysts have welcomed the ruling, describing it as a major step toward safeguarding judicial independence and reinforcing the separation of powers in Bangladesh.
