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Published : 20 May 2026, 04:43 PM
Lawyer Shishir Manir has condemned the government's move to dissolve the Supreme Court Secretariat and recall judges to the law ministry, branding the action a direct “contempt of court”.
He announced his plan to launch a fresh legal battle in the High Court if the government completes the dismantling process without filing an appeal by Jun 7.
Manir is representing seven lawyers who filed a writ petition challenging the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Act and seeking a status quo order on the secretariat's operations.
Speaking outside the Supreme Court Annex Building on Wednesday, he noted that he brought the matter to the attention of the relevant bench.
The development follows a law ministry notification issued on Tuesday, which transferred 15 judicial service officers and judges working at the now-defunct Supreme Court Secretariat back to the ministry.
Among those transferred are former senior secretary Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman, two additional secretaries Sharmin Nigar and Md Halim Ullah Chowdhury, assistant secretary Ruhul Amin, nine district and sessions judges, two additional district and sessions judges, three joint district judges, and one senior assistant district judge.
Not a shred of respect had been shown for the court's wishes, Manir said. "This kind of conduct is seriously contemptuous. We have already issued a contempt notice. We will file a contempt petition on this matter [on Wednesday]."
He said he had brought the gazette notification to the attention of the High Court bench led by Justice Ahmed Sohel.
"The court was surprised. Repeatedly surprised, the court asked the deputy attorney general ‘you came before us and said you had received the court's preferences that day. The learned attorney general was present himself. So why are you doing all this?’”
Recalling the attorney general's verbal assurance, Manir said the court had made clear it was their desire that the secretariat not be dismantled within that period. "But the court's desires went unheard.”
The government was deliberately trying to "create conflict with the judiciary”, the lawyer said.
"If there were flaws in the law, it could have been corrected or fine-tuned collectively rather than dismantled. Everyone should be working to improve it. But you are walking backwards."
The demand for an independent judiciary in Bangladesh has been raised by different quarters for decades.
Amid widespread debates, discussions and rallies, BCS Judicial Association Secretary General Masdar Hossain and his colleagues filed a lawsuit in 1995 to free the judiciary from executive influence.
In 1999, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court delivered a historic final verdict establishing judicial independence.
Twenty-six years after that landmark ruling, a proposal to set up a separate secretariat for the judiciary received approval from the interim government on Nov 20 last year.
Within 10 days, the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025, was promulgated on Nov 30.
Once fully implemented, the secretariat was designed to handle transfers, promotions, disciplinary matters, leaves and appointments of lower court judges.
The secretariat officially began its journey on Dec 11, when the then chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed inaugurated it at Administrative Building-4 of the Supreme Court.
However, after the elected BNP government took office, it decided to repeal the ordinances concerning judge appointments and the secretariat.
On Apr 9, the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Bill, 2026 was passed in parliament.
While opposition lawmakers termed it interference with judicial independence, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman argued that parliament holds the ultimate authority to legislate.
With the passage of the abolition act, the independent secretariat lost its legal foundation, reverting all administrative and appointment procedures back to the old framework under the law ministry.
Following that, seven lawyers filed a writ petition on Apr 20 challenging the repeal act and seeking a stay on the secretariat's operations.
Lawyer Manir appeared for the petitioners. Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque and Deputy Attorney General Mehdi Hasan appeared for the state before the High Court bench of Justice Sohel and Justice Fatema Anwar.
After the initial hearing, the bench decided that a detailed hearing would not proceed immediately and that the matter would remain pending until the appeal against the September 2025 ruling was resolved.
That ruling, delivered on Sept 2, 2025, had directed the establishment of a separate independent secretariat for the Supreme Court within three months.
The full 185-page judgment was published on the Supreme Court website on Apr 7 this year.
Attorney General Kazal had said after that hearing that the September ruling was not a finally settled judgment. "The reason is not that the judges gave the verdict at the time, but under Article 103 of our Constitution, a certificate was issued.
“The meaning of issuing a certificate is that it will be finally settled as an appeal directly in the Appellate Division," he said, adding that his office was processing the appeal as quickly as possible.
Reminding the court of that commitment on Wednesday, Manir said the High Court had agreed to wait until Jun 7 -- the end of the 60-day window from Apr 7 for filing an appeal.
He made it clear that if the government fails to lodge an appeal by Jun 7 and continues its strategy to dismantle the secretariat, the High Court will accept the new writ petition for a full hearing to challenge the abolition law.
