HC Decision on Supreme Court Secretariat Put on Hold Pending Appeal

Bangla Press Desk:   The Supreme Court's Appellate Division has scheduled June 16 for the hearing of the state's appeal against a High Court verdict that ordered the establishment of an independent secretariat for the Supreme Court.

The Appellate Division has also decided to keep the High Court verdict suspended until the appeal is disposed of.

The four-member bench led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury fixed the date for the hearing on Tuesday, bdnews24.com reports.

Although the interim government established the secretariat through an ordinance, the BNP government repealed the measure after assuming office.

On September 2, 2025, a High Court bench ordered that an independent secretariat for the Supreme Court be established within three months. The full 185-page judgment was published on the Supreme Court's website on April 7, 2026.

Meanwhile, on November 20, 2025, the interim government approved steps to create a separate secretariat. Ten days later, on November 30, the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025 was promulgated.

Once fully implemented, the ordinance vested the Supreme Court Secretariat with authority over the transfer, promotion, disciplinary matters, leave, and recruitment of lower court judges.

Under the ordinance, the Supreme Court Secretariat was formally inaugurated on December 11. It was launched at the Supreme Court Administrative Building-4 by then Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.

However, after the elected BNP government assumed office, it decided to repeal the ordinances relating to judicial appointments and the secretariat. On April 9, 2026, parliament passed the Supreme Court Secretariat Repeal Bill, 2026.

During the parliamentary debate, opposition lawmakers described the bill as “an interference with judicial independence.”

However, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman argued that parliament holds the ultimate authority to enact laws.

With the passage of the repeal law, the Supreme Court Secretariat lost its legal basis. Consequently, all matters relating to judicial appointments and administration reverted to the previous structure under the Ministry of Law.

On May 19, as part of that process, 15 judicial service officers and judges who had been serving in the dissolved Supreme Court Secretariat were transferred back to the Law and Justice Division.

Meanwhile, the state appealed against the High Court's directive to establish an independent secretariat for the Supreme Court. Chamber Judge Farah Mahbub referred the matter to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing.

The demand for an independent judiciary in Bangladesh has been raised by different quarters for decades. Amid extensive debate and public discussion, in 1995, Masdar Hossain, then general secretary of the BCS Judicial Association, along with his colleagues, filed a case seeking to free the judiciary from executive control.

In that case, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court delivered its landmark final judgment in 1999, paving the way for the establishment of an independent judiciary in Bangladesh.