SC scraps amended recruitment rules for lower courts

The Supreme Court (SC) upheld the HC verdict Thursday that had scrapped the two rules incorporating a Law Ministry representative over the committee for recruiting its subordinate court staff terming those illegal and unconstitutional, reports UNB.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC, headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha, passed the order, vacating its stay on the operation of the HC judgment.

On November 1, 2010, the government through a gazette notification published the impugned two rules amending the recruitment of staff to the courts of District Judges, its subordinate courts and Divisional Special Judges Courts and courts of Judicial Magistracy and Metropolitan Magistracy.

Following a writ petition, the HC on November 16, last year set aside the two rules incorporating a representative from the Law Ministry over the committee for recruiting its subordinate court staff terming those unconstitutional.

The HC judgment had come on the impugned amended rules since those appeared contradictory to the independence of the judiciary in light of the historic judgment on Mazder Hossain case ensuring the entire lower courts under the supervision and control of the SC.

The two lawyers - Asaduzzzman Sidiquee and Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury- filed the writ petition in the form of public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the validity of the amendments over the lower court staff recruitment rules.

Advocate Manzill Murshid, the counsel for the PIL writ petitioners, told journalists that following the apex court judgment the Law Ministry cannot continue its representative into the lower court staff recruitment body.