27th BCS: Verdict on 1,137 dropped candidates on Thursday

A five-strong Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed set the date after a hearing on Wednesday

The Supreme Court has set Thursday for the verdict in the appeal by 1,137 candidates who were denied recruitment in the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service, or BCS, batch.

A five-strong Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, decided on the date after a hearing on Wednesday.

Advocate Salahuddin Dolon stood for the petitioners while Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque represented the state alongside advocate Khalequzzaman Bhuiyan on behalf of the Public Service Commission, or PSC.

As many as 3,567 candidates passed the first oral examination of the 27th BCS. In 2007, the caretaker government annulled the results of the first oral test over charges of irregularities and corruption and arranged the second viva voce.

The successful candidates filed a writ petition challenging the validity of the cancellation of the first oral test’s results. On Jul 3, 2008, the High Court declared the scrapping of the first 27th BCS oral test results valid.

The petitioners later filed a leave to appeal with the Appellate Division against the order.

Another High Court bench declared the second oral test illegal on Nov 11, 2009. The government filed a leave to appeal against this.

On Jul 11, 2010, a six-strong Appellate Division bench, led by then chief justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, upheld the High Court's verdict declaring the cancellation of the first oral test valid.

At the same time, the government's leave-to-appeal against the High Court verdict declaring the second oral test illegal was settled with some observations.