Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today came down heavily on a recent Supreme Court verdict regarding Warrant of Precedence saying it is “totally unethical and might create disorder within the state organs”.
“I will say that delivering such judgement is totally out of ethics,” she said in parliament while replying to a lawmaker’s supplementary question in this regard.
The Appellate Division of SC on January 11 disposed of “with expunction, modification, observation and findings” an appeal against a 2010 High Court order that declared illegal and void the existing Warrant of Precedence, formulated in 1986 and revised in 2008.
The full text is yet to be released.
Passed following a writ petition, the High Court’s February 4, 2010 order also directed the government to issue a new Warrant of Precedence for the republic’s officers, giving district judges and equivalent judicial officers’ precedence over the chiefs of armed forces, and government secretaries.
The Warrant of Precedence is used for all government purposes including ceremonial occasions.
During a question-answer session in the House, Jatiya Party lawmaker M Salim Uddin from Sylhet-5 constituency made a supplementary question to the PM if any problem is being occurred due to the recent SC verdict.
The leader of the House said if sudden announcement is given without following the rules and regulations then a disorder is created among the organs of the state.
There are rules and regulations in every aspect of the public servants and that should be followed properly, she said adding that there should a coordination among the three organs—legislative, judiciary and executive—of the state.
Hasina said when the constitution clearly stipulates positions of the respective fields, it is not right to give verdict to dignify themselves. “It becomes a partisan rule,” she said.
She said a severe indiscipline like situation has been created following the SC verdict.
The Leader of the House said systems of different countries should be seen. She said everybody would discharge his/her responsibility through coordination and cooperation and only then a nation could run smoothly.
The AL chief said discussion is going on between the law minister and the concerned officials in the judiciary to resolve the problems.
BACKGROUND
A five-member SC bench headed by the then Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain came up with the ruling after disposing of an appeal against a 2010 High Court order that declared the existing Warrant of Precedence illegal and void.
The positions of the speaker and the chief justice are third and fourth respectively in the existing Warrant of Precedence, formulated in 1986 and revised in 2008.
The position of the district judges is 24th, and that of the cabinet secretary, chiefs of staff of the army, navy and air force and principal secretary is 12th. The secretaries are ranked 16th in the order.
The Warrant of Precedence is used for all government purposes including ceremonial occasions.
Earlier in 2006, Md Ataur Rahman, a former secretary general of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, filed the petition claiming that 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.
Source: The Daily Star
