Appellate Division halts HC order that nullified permission to arrest govt officials

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday (1 September) stayed the High Court's recent (HC) verdict that scrapped the provision of taking permission from the government before arresting any civil servant for a criminal offence.

The full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique gave the stay order and also adjourned the appeal hearing till 23 October.

The government appealed to the Appellate Division on Wednesday seeking a stay order on the HC's recent verdict.

A hearing was held Thursday regarding the issue. Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state during the hearing.

He said, "It is often seen that false cases are filed for unnecessary harassment of government employees. If the employee is arrested after the case and is acquitted later, then it causes suffering to him. The law was enacted to alleviate this suffering and facilitate government work. Keeping these aspects in mind, the application was made seeking suspension of the verdict."

On 25 August, a High Court bench of Justice Md. Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kazi Md. Ejarul Haque Akondo gave the verdict, scrapping the provision of the Public Service Act. The HC described it as "unconstitutional".

"A section has been given special facilities by the provision of prior permission to arrest government employees, which is sheer discrimination and violence of articles 26, 27 and 31 of the Constitution," the bench said.

On 14 November 2018, a gazette was issued on Public Service Act, 2018. It was published on 26 September, 2019, and came into effect on 1 October, 2019.

According to Section 41 (1) of the Act, prior permission is needed from the authorities to arrest a government officer for a criminal offence.

On 14 October 2019, a writ petition was filed challenging the legality of Section 41 (1) of the Act.

Lawyer Manzill Murshid, who filed the petition, told the media on Thursday that the High Court's verdict was stayed until 23 October, and, during this period, the state had been asked to file a regular leave to appeal.