Court hearing on quota reform tomorrow

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow (10 July) regarding a fresh plea challenging the High Court's judgment to reinstate the freedom fighter quota system for first and second-class government jobs.

Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, chamber judge of the Appellate Division, set the date today following a petition filed by two students from Dhaka University today (9 July).

According to Shah Monjurul Hoque, the lawyer representing the petitioners, the chamber judge's court convened at 11:30am specifically to fix a hearing date for the appeal before the full bench of the Appellate Division chaired by the chief justice. 

As the complete High Court judgment reinstating the 30% freedom fighter quota in government jobs has not yet been published, the chamber court used special power to fix the date.

Al Saadi Bhuiyan, a student of the anthropology department and president of the Dhaka University Journalist Association, along with Ahnaf Sayeed Khan from the Urdu department, submitted the petition earlier today through the senior lawyer.

"The appeal filed by the state against the High Court's verdict is currently under consideration in the Appellate Division. Meanwhile, Al Saadi Bhuiyan and Ahnaf Sayeed Khan have sought to intervene as parties in the state's appeal against the High Court's decision," lawyer Monjurul told The Business Standard.

"The Chamber Court has granted an injunction and fixed a date for the hearing after considering their application today," he added

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a circular on 4 October 2018 cancelling the freedom fighter quota for direct recruitment from ninth to 13th grade.

The circular stated that direct recruitment for posts in the 9th grade (formerly 1st class) and 10th-13th grade (formerly 2nd class) should be based on a merit list, abolishing the existing quota system for these posts. The quotas cancelled included 10% for women, 30% for freedom fighters, 10% for districts, 5% for tribal communities, and 1% for the disabled.

In 2021, the Central Command Council of the Children and Grandchildren of Freedom Fighters filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the cancellation of the 30% freedom fighter quota in this circular.

On 5 June last, the High Court ruled in favour of maintaining the 30% freedom fighter quota and ordered the cancellation of the government's circular.

On 9 June, the state filed an appeal with the chamber court of the Appellate Division, seeking a stay on the HC verdict. 

Later, on 4 July, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court's judgment and stated that a regular appeal could be filed if the "state" opposed this verdict.

As a result, the quota remained in government service until the full verdict was published and the appeal was resolved. Students and job seekers are currently protesting against this quota system.