HC issues rule to include editors in warrant of precedence

The High Court yesterday asked the government to explain the non-inclusion of the editors of national newspapers in the warrant of precedence (WoP). The government has to respond in four weeks. The WoP is a state-level hierarchy of people accorded by the government, mostly in the context of very formal and state occasions. A bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das issued the rule in response to a writ petition filed by Kazi Erteza Hasan, editor and publisher of ‘Daily Vorer Pata’. The petition said the editors of national newspapers should be included in the WoP, given their role in developing good governance in the society as well as the country. The petitioner’s counsel, Barrister Raghib Rauf Chowdhury, said the teachers of medical and engineering colleges and upazila and union parishad chairpersons were included in the WoP. Therefore, the editors should also be accorded similar status considering their work for society.
Chowdhury added that non-government professionals were included in the WoP of many countries, including India, Pakistan, Australia and the UK. But this was not the case in Bangladesh.
The counsel said particular editors were invited and given dignity and status in state functions as per the desire of government authorities, which was discriminatory against other editors. The government had formulated the WoP in 1986 and revised it in 2003.
On December 14, 2006, M Ataur Rahman, a former secretary-general of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, had filed a public interest litigation challenging the validity of the revised WoP.
Following this, the HC had declared the WoP illegal on February 4, 2010, and ordered reshuffling the state hierarchy with constitutional post-holders and district judges placed above the chiefs of the armed forces. The government had subsequently filed an appeal the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. The SC had disposed of the appeal with some observations on January 11, 2015. On November 9, 2016, the apex court had released the full copy of the verdict disposing of the long-pending dispute over the impugned state-level hierarchy.

HC issues rule to include editors in warrant of precedence

The High Court yesterday asked the government to explain the non-inclusion of the editors of national newspapers in the warrant of precedence (WoP). The government has to respond in four weeks. The WoP is a state-level hierarchy of people accorded by the government, mostly in the context of very formal and state occasions. A bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das issued the rule in response to a writ petition filed by Kazi Erteza Hasan, editor and publisher of Daily Vorer Pata. The petition said the editors of national newspapers should be included in the WoP, given their role in developing good governance in the society as well as the country. The petitioners counsel, Barrister Raghib Rauf Chowdhury, said the teachers of medical and engineering colleges and upazila and union parishad chairpersons were included in the WoP. Therefore, the editors should also be accorded similar status considering their work for society. Chowdhury added that non-government professionals were included in the WoP of many countries, including India, Pakistan, Australia and the UK. But this was not the case in Bangladesh. The counsel said particular editors were invited and given dignity and status in state functions as per the desire of government authorities, which was discriminatory against other editors. The government had formulated the WoP in 1986 and revised it in 2003. On December 14, 2006, M Ataur Rahman, a former secretary-general of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Association, had filed a public interest litigation challenging the validity of the revised WoP. Following this, the HC had declared the WoP illegal on February 4, 2010, and ordered reshuffling the state hierarchy with constitutional post-holders and district judges placed above the chiefs of the armed forces. The government had subsequently filed an appeal the Supreme Courts Appellate Division. The SC had disposed of the appeal with some observations on January 11, 2015. On November 9, 2016, the apex court had released the full copy of the verdict disposing of the long-pending dispute over the impugned state-level hierarchy.