The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a High Court verdict that had restored the Supreme Court’s authority over the control and discipline of subordinate courts and ordered the establishment of a separate Supreme Court Secretariat.

A four-member bench, headed by chief justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, passed the order, staying the High Court verdict until the disposal of the government appeal against the verdict.

Three other judges are Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Farah Mahbub.

The apex court also posted for June 16 the hearing of the appeal and asked both sides to submit summaries of their arguments.

On September 2, 2025, the High Court pronounced the verdict asking the government to establish a separate Supreme Court Secretariat in three months.

The government filed the appeal on May 20, arguing that the High Court verdict contained ‘fundamental constitutional and legal errors’ and disrupted the constitutional balance among the organs of the state.

On May 21, the judge in chamber, Justice Farah Mahbub, sent the matter to the Appellate Division full bench for a hearing, after attorney general Md Ruhul Quddus sought a stay on the High Court verdict.

The High Court pronounced the verdict after hearing a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Mohammad Saddam Hossen and eight other Supreme Court lawyers after the mass uprising that ousted the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, 2024.

The High Court verdict declared the 4th and 15th amendments to article 116 of the constitution illegal, restoring the Supreme Court’s full control over appointments, promotions, leave, and discipline of lower court judges and magistrates.

The court also directed the establishment of an independent Supreme Court Secretariat in three months to ensure administrative, financial and disciplinary autonomy.

On April 7, 2026, the High Court released the full text of the verdict just before the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government tabled the Supreme Court Secretariat (Repeal) Bill in Jatiya Sangsad to repeal the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance 2025 promulgated as part of the judicial reforms during the interim government.

The secretariat was inaugurated on December 11, 2025 after the the promulgation of the ordinance on November 30, 2025, fulfilling one of the core commitments made in then chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed’s judicial reform road map announced on September 21, 2024.

The BNP government did not ratify the ordinance as the law ministry raised concerns in the special committee meeting over the concentration of judicial power.

The High Court in the verdict had also struck down important constitutional amendments and executive rules that had for long kept the judiciary under the executive.

The government in the appeal warned that unless the Appellate Division interfered, the High Court verdict could create ‘serious constitutional conflicts and uncertainties’ in the administration of the subordinate judiciary.

It argued that the High Court wrongly held that invalidating the fourth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution automatically revived the original 1972 version of article 116 restoring the Supreme Court authority over the subordinate courts.

According to the appeal, once a constitutional provision is substituted by an act of the parliament, the earlier text ceases to exist in law and cannot be revived by judicial interpretation.

Restoring the earlier provision amounts to encroachment into the parliament’s exclusive legislative domain and violates the doctrine of separation of powers, the appeal stated.

Attorney general Ruhul Quddus and additional attorney general Aneek R Haque appeared for the state while lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir argued in favour of the secretariat.