The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered the reinstatement of 1,137 candidates who were denied government jobs in the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exam nearly 17 years ago.
A five-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the verdict on Thursday after hearing an appeal regarding the matter.
Senior lawyer Barrister Salahuddin Dolon represented the petitioners in court, while Additional Attorney General Barrister Anik R Haque appeared for the state.
The court has scheduled the hearing of the appeal filed on behalf of the deprived candidates for November 7, 2025.
Additionally, after reviewing a separate petition seeking a revision of the previous verdict, the four-member Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, granted leave to appeal and issued the order.
The Appellate Division had earlier upheld a High Court ruling that nullified the first oral examination of the 27th BCS, delivering its verdict on July 11, 2010.
Subsequently, 140 individuals filed separate petitions on behalf of the 1,137 affected candidates, seeking a review of the decision.
Following the order, petitioners’ lawyer Salah Uddin Dolon said that the decision to conduct a second oral examination for the 27th BCS was made during the caretaker government of 2007-08.
The reinstatement order means that 1,137 candidates will now be able to join the civil service.
The legality of the second oral examination had been contested, leading to conflicting High Court rulings. While one High Court bench declared the second oral examination illegal, another ruled that it was lawful. The government subsequently appealed against the ruling that deemed the second oral examination invalid.
In 2010, the Appellate Division ruled that the second oral examination was valid.
However, Barrister Salahuddin Dolon argued that the caretaker government had no legal authority to order a second oral examination, as such a provision does not exist under the Public Service Commission (PSC) Act and Rules.
On July 3, 2008, a High Court bench upheld the cancellation of the first oral examination results of the 27th BCS.
However, on November 11, 2009, another High Court bench ruled that the second oral examination was invalid.
Twenty-five deprived candidates subsequently filed two leave-to-appeal petitions in the Appellate Division against the first verdict, while the government filed three appeals against the second verdict.
Additionally, 205 affected candidates filed a writ petition in the High Court.
On July 11, 2010, the Appellate Division disposed of the government’s appeal and upheld the second oral examination’s validity with some observations.
On January 21, 2007, 3,567 candidates initially passed the first oral examination of the 27th BCS. However, the caretaker government’s advisory council decided to cancel the results on May 30, 2007.
In response, the PSC annulled the results on July 1, 2007, and conducted a second oral examination on July 29 of the same year.
On September 23, 2008, 3,229 candidates passed the second oral examination and were later appointed to the civil service.
