Reinstatement of dismissed upazila election officers to be decided on 25 Feb

Whether the 85 upazila election officers dismissed during the caretaker government 18 years ago will be reinstated or not, may be determined on 25 February.

The Appellate Division has set 25 February as the date for delivering the verdict on the appeals and review petitions regarding this matter.

Following separate hearings, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed fixed this date for the judgment on Thursday.

The dismissed individuals had filed an appeal and four review petitions concerning the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ruling on 1 September 2022, which had overturned the decision of the administrative appellate tribunal. The hearings on this petitions concluded today.   Previously, on 12 April 2010, the administrative appellate tribunal had granted the appeals of 85 officials and ruled in favour of their reinstatement.  

Senior advocate Salah Uddin Dolon represented the appellants during the hearing. Senior Advocate Prabir Niyogi and Md. Ruhul Quddus presented arguments in support of the review petitions. Additional Attorney General Anik R Haque appeared on behalf of the state, while Advocate Mohammad Khalequzzaman Bhuiyan represented the Election Commission (EC).

After the hearing Senior Advocate Salah Uddin Dolon informed Prothom Alo that after concluding the hearings on the appeal and review petitions, the Appellate Division has set 25 February as the date for delivering its verdict. It will be determined on that day whether the dismissed upazila election officers will be reinstated.

According to the advocates, on 3 September 2005 a total of 327 individuals were temporarily appointed as upazila election officers through the Public Service Commission (PSC).  

The recruitment conducted during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government became a subject of controversy. In 2007, under the caretaker government, a reassessment examination was conducted for all 327 appointees. Following this evaluation, 85 individuals were dismissed from service on 3 September of the same year. The dismissed officers subsequently challenged this decision in court. However, on 23 March 2009, the administrative tribunal dismissed their case. Then they filed an appeal against this ruling. On 12 April 2010, the administrative appellate tribunal accepted the appeal of the 85 officers and ruled in favour of their reinstatement.

The state filed four separate leave to appeal petitions against the ruling of the administrative appellate tribunal. Consequently, on 29 April 2010, the Chamber Court of the Appellate Division issued a suspension on the execution of the tribunal’s verdict and referred the matter to the regular bench of the Appellate Division for a full hearing. Subsequently, in 2011, the government filed separate appeals. On 1 September 2022, the Appellate division ruled in favour of the government’s appeals, turning over the administrative appellate tribunal’s verdict of 12 April 2010, which had ordered the reinstatement of the 85 dismissed officers.

In 2023, the dismissed officers filed five separate review petitions challenging the Appellate Division’s 1 September ruling. After hearing one of these review petitions, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal on 6 November last year. The court also directed the petitioners to submit a summary of the appeal within four weeks. Additionally, the court stated in its order that the remaining four review petitions would be heard alongside this appeal. Consequently, the hearings were conducted in continuity to this.