The High Court has declared parts of Article 116 of the Constitution, which deal with control over the judiciary, illegal and void. It also directed the government to establish a separate secretariat within three months.

As a result, the authority to transfer and promote judges of subordinate courts has returned to the Supreme Court, lawyers said. They added that the verdict has removed all obstacles to forming a separate Supreme Court secretariat.

A High Court bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury delivered the verdict on Tuesday (September 2), making absolute the earlier rule issued in this regard.

Earlier, on August 13, the court concluded the hearing on the rule concerning Article 116 of the Constitution—which had vested the control and discipline of subordinate courts in the President—and the establishment of a separate judiciary secretariat. The court then set September 2 for pronouncement of the judgment. Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir appeared for the writ petition, while Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman represented the state. Senior lawyer Sharif Bhuiyan made submissions as amicus curiae (friend of the court), and lawyer Ahsanul Karim appeared as an intervener.

The writ petition was filed on August 25 last year by seven Supreme Court lawyers—Mohammad Saddam Hossain, Md. Zahirul Islam, Mostafizur Rahman, Abdullah Sadik, Md. Mizanul Haque, Aminul Islam Shakil, and Zayed Bin Amjad. They challenged the validity of Article 116 of the Constitution and the Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules of 2017, and sought a directive to establish a separate judiciary secretariat.

Following the preliminary hearing, on October 27 last year, a High Court bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub (now a judge of the Appellate Division) and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued a rule. The rule asked why Article 116 of the Constitution and the Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules of 2017 should not be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.

It also asked why a separate secretariat for the judiciary should not be established. The two secretaries of the Ministry of Law and the Registrar General of the Supreme Court were directed to respond to the rule. The Registrar General was further asked to submit a progress report within 60 days on the establishment of a judicial secretariat.

On March 25 this year, Justice Farah Mahbub was appointed to the Appellate Division. Subsequently, the Chief Justice assigned the matter for hearing and disposal to the High Court bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury. After several days of hearings from both sides, the bench fixed September 2 for delivering the verdict. In line with that schedule, the judgment was pronounced today.