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Supreme Court of Bangladesh

constitutional · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury
Role
Chief Justice
Annual budget
৳2,500,000,000
Staff
—
Established
1972
Legal basis
Constitution of Bangladesh, Part VI, Chapter I, Articles 94-116 (as amended); the Supreme Court is a court of record under Article 108; judicial independence guaranteed under Article 94(4); authority over subordinate judiciary (postings, promotions, discipline) under Article 116, restored to the Supreme Court by High Court Division ruling of 2 September 2025

The Appellate Division is actively hearing the ICT prosecution's appeal seeking death penalty for Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal (Criminal Appeal No 96/2025); parliament's repeal of the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance on 9 April 2026 has re-subjected judicial administration to executive control, drawing criticism from TIB and legal scholars; the DSCC mayoral oath dispute (Ishraque Hossain) remains sub-judice before both the High Court Division and Appellate Division.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

Established under Part VI, Chapter I of the 1972 Constitution (Articles 94-116). The court has two divisions: the High Court Division (original, writ, and first appellate jurisdiction) and the Appellate Division (final court of appeal). As of May 2026, the High Court Division has approximately 103 judges (77 permanent, 26 additional) and the Appellate Division has 6 judges including the Chief Justice. CRITICAL CORRECTION on current head: The task specification named Syed Refaat Ahmed as Chief Justice; this is out-of-date. Justice Refaat retired on 27 December 2025 at mandatory retirement age after serving as 25th Chief Justice since 11 August 2024. The incumbent 26th Chief Justice is Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, sworn in 28 December 2025. ICT-Hasina case: ICT-1 convicted Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in absentia on 17 November 2025 for crimes against humanity (July-August 2024 uprising crackdown, up to 1,400 civilian deaths); sentenced to death on certain counts and imprisonment till natural death on others. ICT prosecution filed Criminal Appeal No 96/2025 with the Appellate Division seeking enhancement of the life-imprisonment counts to death penalty. Hasina and Kamal cannot themselves appeal while abroad; case remains pending before the Appellate Division full bench. Supreme Court Secretariat (judicial autonomy): The 30 November 2025 ordinance was a landmark reform granting the SC full administrative and financial independence from the executive; parliament repealed it on 9 April 2026, a major setback to judicial independence. ACC note: the task specification referenced 'ACC stays'; the most significant ACC-related Supreme Court development in the window is the parliamentary decision to allow the ACC Ordinance (which strengthened ACC independence) to lapse without re-enactment in 2026, reversing interim-era anti-corruption institutional reforms. Budget figure of Tk 250 crore (annual_budget_bdt = 2,500,000,000) is the FY2025-26 allocation for the Supreme Court registry per Ministry of Finance budget documents. Staff count not publicly disaggregated for the apex court.

Sources