The Appellate Division on Thursday allowed the government to appeal to review its 2015 verdict on the 鈥榳arrant of precedence鈥�, the official ranking of key constitutional office holders.
The government鈥檚 appeal stems from separate petitions filed in 2017 by the cabinet secretary and the then-chairman of the Public Service Commission.
Ninety deputy and assistant attorney generals intervened in support of those reviews.
A six-judge bench chaired by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam granted the leave petition.
On July 30, it concluded the hearing.
The Appellate Division, chaired by the then chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, in a verdict on January 11, 2015, updated the hierarchy by placing constitutional office holders higher, elevating district judges by eight ranks to match secretaries.
It also raised the chief justice鈥檚 rank to the same level as the Speaker of Parliament, and included merit holders, such as recipients of national awards and freedom fighters with the Bir Uttam, in the order of precedence.
The origin of the warrant dates back to 1986, issued under Cabinet Division rules, and was amended last in 2003.
A writ petition filed in 2006 by Md Ataur Rahman, the then secretary-general of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, challenged the updated warrant.
The High Court ruled it void in 2010. The state appealed, resulting in the 2015 verdict that is now being reexamined after leave was granted in these 2017 review petitions.
Senior lawyer Salahuddin Dolon represented the cabinet secretary, while senior lawyers Prabir Neogi and Nihad Kabir represented the judicial officers, and Ahsanul Karim represented the intervening attorneys.