The High Court of Bangladesh has declared some parts of Article 116 of the Constitution regarding the control of the judiciary as invalid and void. The High Court has also ordered the formation of a separate secretariat within three months.

As a result, the power to transfer and promote judges of subordinate courts has returned to the hands of the Supreme Court, lawyers said. Lawyers also said that there is no obstacle to the establishment of a separate secretariat of the Supreme Court as a result of this ruling.

A bench comprising Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury of the High Court announced the verdict on Tuesday (September 2) after declaring the rule issued in this regard as appropriate.

The hearing on Article 116 of the Constitution regarding the control and discipline of subordinate courts vested in the President and the rule issued on the issue of the establishment of a separate secretariat for the judiciary concluded on August 13. After hearing the hearing, the court fixed September 2 to pronounce the verdict on the matter.

On that day, lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir heard in the court for the writ petition. Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman. Senior lawyer Sharif Bhuiyan heard the case as amicus curiae (friend of the court). Lawyer Ahsanul Karim heard the case as an intervener.

Seven lawyers of the Supreme Court filed the writ petition on August 25 last year, challenging Article 116 of the Constitution, the validity of the Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules, 2017, and seeking directions to establish a separate judicial secretariat. The seven lawyers who filed the writ petition are Mohammad Saddam Hossain, Md. Zahirul Islam, Mostafizur Rahman, Abdullah Sadiq, Md. Mizanul Haque, Aminul Islam Shakil and Zayed Bin Amzad.

On October 27 last year, a High Court bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub (currently a judge of the Appellate Division) and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued the rule on the initial hearing of this writ petition. The rule sought to know why Article 116 of the Constitution and the Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules of 2017 related to it should not be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.
At the same time, the rule also sought to know why a separate judicial secretariat should not be established. The two secretaries of the Law Ministry and the Registrar General of the Supreme Court were asked to respond to the rule. At the same time, the Registrar General of the Supreme Court was asked to submit a report to the court within 60 days, informing about the progress in establishing the judicial secretariat.

Justice Farah Mahbub was appointed as a judge of the Appellate Division on March 25. Later, the Chief Justice sent the matter to the High Court bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury for hearing and settlement. Accordingly, after hearing the rule on both sides for a few days in this bench, the High Court fixed the date for the verdict today (September 2). In continuation of that, the verdict was announced today.