CJ's status should be equal to that of the Speaker

The Supreme Court yesterday released the full text of its verdict on the appeal against a 2010 High Court order, observing that the status of the chief justice should be equal to that of the Jatiya Sangsad Speaker in the Warrant of Precedence.

The apex court also directed the government to amend the existing Warrant of Precedence used for all government purposes, including ceremonial occasions, and give district judges the status equivalent to that of government secretaries.

The Speaker holds third position and the chief justice fourth in the existing Warrant of Precedence formulated in 1986 and revised in 2008.

The president and the prime minister enjoy the first and the second positions. The current position of district judges is 24th and that of secretaries is 16th.

The SC said, “It is to be noted that vice president was placed at serial no 2 and the prime minister was placed at serial no 3 of the table of the Warrant of Precedence of 1975.

“Because of the abolition of the post of vice president, the post of prime minister was upgraded to serial no 2, and the Speaker was upgraded to serial no 3 alone keeping the chief justice in serial no 4 thereby degrading the position of the chief justice which is not contemplated in the constitution.

“The chief justice should be placed at serial no 3 of the impugned Warrant of Precedence along with the Speaker,” it mentioned.

On January 11 last year, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC, headed by the then chief justice Md Muzammel Hossain, delivered a short verdict after disposing of the appeal against the 2010 HC order that declared the existing Warrant of Precedence illegal and void.

The bench included Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha (now chief justice), Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury (retired).

In its full verdict, the SC observed that the freedom fighters, honoured with gallantry award Bir Uttam, should be included in the table of the Warrant of Precedence. 

“As such, it is expected that those dignitaries who have been honoured or decorated with civil awards, e.i., Swadhinata Padak, or Ekushey Padak, and those valiant freedom fighters who have been honoured with gallantry awards of Bir Uttam should be included in the table of the impugned Warrant of Precedence in such order as deemed appropriate,” it said.

“… The judges of the Appellate Division should be placed at serial no 7 and those of the High Court Division as well as the attorney general be placed at serial no 8. The members of parliament, the comptroller and auditor general and ombudsman should be placed at serial no 12.

“The chairman of the Public Service Commission should also be placed at serial no 15 in the impugned Warrant of Precedence. We hope that the government shall act accordingly in the light of the above observation,” the bench noted.

In the existing warrant of precedence, the position of the Appellate Division judges is eighth and that of the HC Division judges is ninth.

The attorney general, the comptroller and auditor general, and the ombudsman hold 15th, parliament members 13th, and the PSC chairman 16th position.

In the verdict, the apex court directed the government to amend the Warrant of Precedence, giving priority to the constitutional functionaries.

“As the constitution is the supreme law of the land, all constitutional functionaries shall be placed first in order of priority in the table of the impugned Warrant of Precedence,” the SC judges said.

“Members of judicial service holding the posts of district judges or equivalent posts of district judges shall be placed at serial no 16 in the table along with the secretaries to the government and equivalent public servants in the service of the republic. Additional district judges or holders of equivalent judicial posts shall be placed at the serial number 17 immediately after the district judges,” they added.

Talking to The Daily Star, Additional Attorney General Murad Reza said they would decide on moving a petition before the apex court for its judgement on the Warrant of Precedence after scrutinising it and consulting with the authorities concerned.   

Asked, Sabbir Faiz, additional registrar of the HC Division of the SC, said the judicial officials are happy with the SC verdict, as they had been fighting for it for several years.

Following a writ petition, the HC on February 4, 2010, directed the government to issue a new Warrant of Precedence for the republic's officers and give district judges and equivalent judicial officers precedence over the chiefs of the armed forces, and government secretaries.

Now, the cabinet secretary, the chiefs of staff of the army, the navy and the air force, and the principal secretary to the PM hold 12th position.

Earlier in 2006, Md Ataur Rahman, a former secretary general of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, filed the petition on behalf of the organisation.

The petition said the Cabinet Division had framed the existing Warrant of Precedence in 1986 in an arbitrary manner, without evaluating the dignity and status of judicial officials.

Later in 2011, the cabinet secretary filed the appeal with the SC on behalf of the government, challenging the HC verdict.