Secretary, Ministry of Finance v. Masdar Hossain

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Secretary, Ministry of Finance v. Masdar Hossain
Court Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Court membership
Judges sittingChief Justice Mustafa Kamal
Justice Latifur Rahman
Justice Bimalendu Bikash Roy Choudhury
Justice Mahmudul Amin Choudhury

Secretary, Ministry of Finance v Masdar Hossain (1999) 52 DLR (AD) 82 is a case of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The case concerned the separation of powers in Bangladesh. It is popularly known as the Masdar Hossain case. [1]

Contents

Facts

In 1995, a writ petition was filed by Masdar Hossain, a district judge, [2] on behalf of 441 other civil court judges. The petition put forward the following points:-

The Dhaka High Court ruled in favor of the petition with a 12-point directive in 1997. The government appealed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

Judgement

In 1999, the Supreme Court reversed parts of the High Court ruling, but upheld the 12 point directive. It issued a further 12 point directive. The Supreme Court called for the formation of an independent judicial commission to select members of the judiciary, deal with matters of judicial salaries and manage discipline. The Supreme Court ruled that the constitution provided a framework for judicial independence. [3]

Significance

The verdict led to the formation of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission. It was implemented by Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed during the caretaker administration in 2007.

See also

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References

  1. Professor M Rafiqul Islam. "Independence of the judiciary- the Masdar case". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  2. "Masdar Hossain says judiciary is free now". bdnews24.com. 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  3. "Secretary, Ministry of Government of Bangladesh Vs. Md. Masdar Hossain & others - The Lawyers & Jurists". Lawyersnjurists.com. 2011-05-03. Retrieved 2017-07-11.