The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday permitted Sohel Rana and hundreds of affected candidates from the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service to appeal for a review of its 2012 verdict.
The earlier ruling upheld the Bangladesh Public Service Commission鈥檚 decision to exclude certain candidates after a controversial second round of viva voce in 2008.
A four-member bench led by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed scheduled December 4 for the hearing.
The exclusion controversy dates back to 2007, when the caretaker government cancelled the initial viva voce results and ordered a second round of interviews, allegedly to address complaints of irregularities.
Although over 3,000 candidates passed the initial viva, 1,114 were ultimately disqualified after the second round.
In response, disqualified candidates filed a series of legal challenges, leading the High Court in 2008 to declare the PSC鈥檚 decision to hold a second viva illegal and order the reinstatement of qualified candidates from the first round.
In 2010, however, the Appellate Division overturned this ruling, deeming the PSC鈥檚 decision legal and nullifying the HC鈥檚 order.
Following a recent petition by the excluded candidates, filed after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government through a student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024, the Appellate Division is now set to review whether the government鈥檚 appeal was resolved without allowing leave to appeal.
Senior lawyers Salahuddin Dolon and Ruhul Kuddus Kajal represented the disqualified candidates in their renewed bid for justice, while additional attorney general Aneek R Haque appeared on behalf of the state.