Promotion of 108 addl district judges stalled

Promotion of 108 additional district judges as district judges remains stalled as the Supreme Court did not approve the proposal sent by the law ministry six months ago.
The additional district judges are from the 18th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Judicial Cadre).
The SC did not approve the proposal of the law ministry as it rejected an SC recommendation to reduce the criterion of two years’ judicial experience for promoting additional district judges as district judges to six months, senior law ministry officials told New Age on Saturday. 
They said approval of SC was needed immediately to fill up 40 vacancies in the district judges’ positions. 
Several additional district judges told New Age that their due promotions were on the hold due to the on-going tussle between the government and the SC.
An official in the office of the Supreme Court’s Registrar General said that the High Court Division’s full court meeting chaired by Chief Justice SK on August 10, 2016 recommended the reduction of the experience criterion for the promotion of additional district judges.
He said that the SC took the move as about a dozen additional district judges became ineligible for promotion as they are serving the Supreme Court Registrar General’s Office and government departments on deputation.
He said that three of them are posted in the SC registrar general’s office on deputation.
Law secretary ASSM Zahirul Haque told New Age on Saturday that the President rejected the Supreme Court’s recommendation to relax the judicial experience criterion. 
Law ministry officials said that there was no need to relax the experience criterion for 108 of the additional district judges.
The Bangladesh Judicial Service Rules 2007 requires a judge to have 15 years’ experience including two years’ experience as additional district judge to be eligible to get promotion as a district judge.

 

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