Order to reinstate 85 sacked UZ poll officers scrapped

The Appellate Division has scrapped a decade-old order of the administrative appeal tribunal on reinstatement of 85 upazila election officers who were stripped of their jobs by the last caretaker regime.

A six-member Appellate Division led by the chief justice Hasan Foez Siddique gave the order on Thursday granting an appeal filed by the state.

On 28 August, the top court concluded the hearing on the appeal and set Thursday to deliver its verdict.

On 12 April 2010, the administrative appeal tribunal granted the appeal of the 85 sacked officials and gave a verdict for reinstating them. After that, the state filed four separate leave to appeals.

On 29 April 2010, the chamber judge stayed the administrative appeal tribunal’s verdict and the appeal to the Appellate Division for regular hearing.

The state then file separate appeals and hearing was concluded on 28 August this year.

Attorney general AM Amin Uddin and additional attorneys general Sheikh Mohammed Morshed and Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury represented the state during the hearing.

Lawyers AF Hasan Arif and Prabir Niyogi, Salah Uddin Dolon and Qamrul Haque Siddique represented the sacked poll officials.

According to the lawyers, 327 candidates were temporarily selected by Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) for the post of upazila election officer on 3 September 2005.

Since this recruitment conducted during the BNP-led alliance government sparked controversy, these 327 officials underwent evaluation test during the 2007 caretaker government and 85 of those officials were stripped of their jobs on 3 September of that year.

The sacked officials then filed cased against the government decision with the administrative tribunal, but the tribunal rejected their case on 23 March 2009.

They then appealed to the administrative appeal tribunal and this tribunal ordered on reinstatement of the sacked poll officials.