Staff Correspondent:

The Appellate Division on Sunday stayed the effectiveness of its 2018 judgment that approved the much-debated service discipline rules for lower court judges.

A six-member bench led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed passed the order.

The same bench also granted leave to appeal against the earlier verdict that had endorsed the controversial rules.

Following the order now there is no legal bar to continuing the ongoing High Court hearing on a writ petition concerning Article 116 of the Constitution, said lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir.

Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin represented the state during the hearing.

Earlier on June 26, the court fixed June 29 for delivering the verdict on the review petition filed against the Appellate Division’s 2018 judgment which had approved the much-debated discipline rules for lower court judges.

On that day, lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir argued in favour of the review while Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin opposed it.

Talking to reporters after the order Advocate Shishir Monir said, “We told the court that the 2018 discipline rules were imposed by the then acting Chief Justice practically assaulting the judiciary. Previously, nine judges had delivered different orders on this issue. The government through the judiciary forced to introduce the gazette on lower court judges’ service rules—something unprecedented in judicial history.”

That’s why we filed the review petition with the court’s permission seeking its urgent consideration,” he added.

The dispute over lower court judges’ service rules traces back to the landmark Masdar Hossain case verdict of December 2, 1999, when the Appellate Division issued 12 directives for judicial independence including a clear separation of the judiciary from the executive branch.

The Appellate Division upheld this landmark verdict in 2005.