Court Correspondent

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today fixed tomorrow for the delivery of the verdict in separate appeals by 1,137 candidates who were deprived from the appointment in the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS).
A five-member Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, fixed the date after a hearing today.

Senior Advocate Salahuddin Dolon stood for the petitioners while Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque represented the state. Senior lawyers Jainul Abedeen and Barrister M Ruhul Quddus Kajol were also present at the court on behalf of the candidates.

During the caretaker government in 2007, the Public Service Commission (PSC) cancelled the results of the first oral test over charges of irregularities and corruption and arranged the second viva voce. As many as 3,567 candidates passed the first oral examination of the 27th BCS.

Candidate Monir Hossain and some others filed a writ petition challenging the validity of the cancellation of the first oral test’s results. On July 3, 2008, the High Court declared the scrapping of the first 27th BCS oral test results valid. After the High Court’s verdict, the oral test was held second time.

The petitioners later filed a leave to appeal with the Appellate Division against the order.
Another High Court bench declared the second oral test illegal on November 11, 2009 when a writ was filled in 2008 against the High Court bench’s judgment on July 3, 2008. The government filed a leave to appeal against this.

On Jul 11, 2010, a six-member Appellate Division bench, led by then chief justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, upheld the High Court’s verdict declaring the cancellation of the first oral test valid.

At the same time, the government's leave-to-appeal against the High Court verdict declaring the second oral test illegal was settled with some observations.