In a landmark verdict, the High Court yesterday ruled that the Supreme Court, not the president, will have the authority over the transfer, posting, and discipline of lower court judges.
The bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury delivered the judgment on a writ petition filed by several lawyers. It also scrapped Article 116 of the Constitution, which had vested these powers in the president, as well as provisions of the Fourth and Fifteenth Amendments that upheld presidential control.
The court ruling reinstates the original 1972 provision of Article 116, which grants the Supreme Court the authority to oversee the posting, promotion, and leave of judges in the lower judiciary. It also declared the Bangladesh Judicial Service (Disciplinary) Rules, 2017, unconstitutional, ruling that they wrongly placed lower court judges under presidential authority in consultation with the Supreme Court.
On October 27 last year, acting on the same petition, another HC bench issued a rule questioning the legality of article 116 and the Judicial Service (Disciplinary) Rules, 2017. In the rule, the HC asked the respondents — law secretary and SC registrar general — to explain as to why the provisions of article 116 and the disciplinary rules should not be declared contradictory to the constitution, and why they should not be directed to establish a separate judicial secretariat on the SC premises.
The HC came up with the rule following the petition filed by 10 SC lawyers – Mohammad Saddam Hossen, Md Asad Uddin, Md Muzahedul Islam, Md Zahirul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shyikh Mahdi, Abdullah Sadiq, Md Mizanul Hoque, Aminul Islam Shakil, and Jaiad Bin Amjad.
Compilation of the news reports in this regard are as follows –
The Daily Star – https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/supreme-court-not-president-have-authority-over-lower-court-judges-hc-3976781
The Daily Star – https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/big-stride-towards-judicial-autonomy-3977306
Bangladesh Observer – https://www.observerbd.com/news/542384
Bangi News – https://www.banginews.com/web-news?id=81edfb6d366575ec93197c4a14ef1a7f459dd64e
ঢাকা পোস্ট – https://www.dhakapost.com/law-courts/391802
প্রথম আলো – https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/t938sg7r7j
বাংলাদেশ প্রতিদিন – https://www.bd-pratidin.com/national/2025/09/02/1153617
দৈনিক যুগান্তর – https://www.jugantor.com/tp-firstpage/998244
দেশ রুপান্তর -https://www.deshrupantor.com/619193/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A3%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0
দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক – https://www.ittefaq.com.bd/750145/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%C2%A0%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%87