The BNP government on Tuesday backtracked on its election pledge to establish a separate secretariat for the judiciary under the Supreme Court.
In a move linked to the abolition of the Supreme Court Secretariat, the law justice and parliamentary affairs ministry on Tuesday attached the former secretary of the secretariat and 14 judicial officers to the ministry, closing the office of the secretariat.
The attachments were made through a notification issued under the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Bill, 2026, passed on April 9.
Earlier, 19 employees of the High Court division were sent back to the High Court Registry after the secretariat was abolished.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party in its election pledge, however, promised to establish a separate secretariat for the judiciary under Supreme Court and take measures to appoint judges as per the constitution.
The July National Charter 2025 also mandated the enactment of necessary laws for establishing a separate secretariat to ensure administrative and financial independence of the judiciary.
‘The secretariat has been abolished since the passage of the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Act, 2026 on April 9. We had been waiting for our attachment to the law ministry, which was approved on Tuesday,’ said former Supreme Court Secretariat secretary Sk Ashfaqur Rahman, also a senior district judge, while talking to New Age.
The law ministry, meanwhile, in an order initiated the process of transferring the remaining budget, office assets, and official records of the abolished Supreme Court Secretariat to the Supreme Court Registry following the enactment of the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Act, 2026.
The order said that a process was also under way to transfer Tk 7 crore to the relevant code of the Supreme Court Registry of the remaining allocation of Tk 13.43047 crore for the 2025–26 financial year under the abolished secretariat.
According to an official gazette issued by the Law and Justice Division, the Supreme Court Secretariat formally ceased to exist under Section 2(2)(a) of the Supreme Court Secretariat (Abolition) Act, 2026.
Under Section 2(2)(b) of the law, all budgets, projects, and programmes previously vested in the secretariat now stand transferred to the government’s Law and Justice Division.
The order, signed by senior assistant secretary Muhammad Ashekur Rahman on May 10, 2026, said that the Law and Justice Division had taken several decisions regarding the management of the dissolved body’s resources and documents.
As part of the decisions, all office equipment, stationery, computers, laptops and ICT-related materials of the abolished secretariat have been placed under the custody of the Supreme Court Registry for use in different offices and branches.
The government also requested the Supreme Court Registry to permanently preserve all official records and documents of the dissolved secretariat.
Law minister Md Asaduzzaman at a discussion on Sunday said that the ministry had sent a proposal to the finance ministry to permit the ministry to spend the amount for judicial development, the state-run National Legal Aid Services Organisation fund, and the Bangladesh Bar Council for distribution among distress lawyers.
The transfer will be completed upon receiving advice from the Finance Division of the ministry of finance, the order said.
The Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance was issued on November 30, 2025, aiming to establish an independent secretariat for the judiciary with administrative and financial autonomy.
An amendment ordinance, issued on January 25, 2026, further strengthened the secretariat’s authority, including control over the budgeting and administration of the subordinate courts under the chief justice.
The secretariat had become functioning since its inauguration on December 11, 2025, with 19 judicial officers and 19 support personnel.
The law ministry, however, raised concerns in the special committee meeting over the concentration of judicial power.
It warned that providing extensive control to the chief justice under the secretariat could weaken ‘checks and balances’.
Currently, decisions on transfer, promotion, leave, and discipline of the subordinate court judges involve both the executive and the Supreme Court, resulting in dual administrative control over subordinate court judges.
This shared system helps prevent absolute control, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the current system -- in which the Supreme Court decides on government proposals regarding the transfer, promotion, and discipline of the subordinate court judges -- reduces the chance of absolute control by a single individual and ensures checks and balances between the executive and the judiciary.
The interim government on November 30, 2025 issued a gazette promulgating the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, fulfilling one of the core commitments in the chief justice’s judicial reform road map announced on September 21, 2024.
