Secretary, Ministry of Finance v. Masdar Hossain

Secretary, Ministry of Finance v Masdar Hossain 52 DLR 82 is a landmark case decided by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh concerning the separation of powers. It is popularly known as the Masdar Hossain case.

Facts

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

Including the judicial service under the executive branch's control was ultra vires.
Chapter II of Part VI of the constitution ensured lower courts were separate from the executive.
Judges of lower courts could not be subject to an Administrative Tribunal of the executive.

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

Judgment

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

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.