673 candidates of 27th BCS appointed after two-decade legal battle

After nearly 20 years of prolonged legal proceedings, 673 candidates who were previously denied appointments through the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination have finally been appointed to various cadres.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification today (18 December), appointing the candidates in line with a High Court verdict. 

The appointments follow a recommendation made earlier by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC).

According to the notification, the appointments will take effect retrospectively from the date of the first appointment of the 27th BCS batch to ensure the maintenance of seniority. The appointees will retain notional seniority from that date; however, they will not be entitled to any financial benefits for the intervening period. 

The final determination of seniority will be subject to the verdict of the Appellate Division.

The newly appointed officers have been instructed to join the designated offices under the relevant ministries or departments by 1 January. Failure to join by the stipulated date will be treated as a refusal to accept the appointment, resulting in the cancellation of the appointment letter. 

Earlier, on 5 November, the PSC recommended the appointment of these candidates to the Ministry of Public Administration. The Appellate Division had directed the appointment of 1,137 candidates who were left out after the cancellation of the 27th BCS viva results in 2007. Based on the PSC's recommendations, 673 candidates have now been appointed. 

The 27th BCS circular was published in 2005. Following the written examination, 3,567 candidates passed the viva. In 2007, the caretaker government annulled the viva results, citing allegations of irregularities and corruption. A fresh viva was held in July 2007, and its results were published in September 2008. Subsequently, 3,229 candidates who passed the second viva were appointed to government service.

Candidates who had passed the first viva challenged the cancellation in the High Court. On 3 July 2008, the court upheld the government's decision to annul the first viva results. 

Twenty-five petitioners later filed leave to appeal in the Appellate Division. 

Meanwhile, on 11 November 2009, another High Court bench, acting on a separate writ petition filed by 205 candidates, declared the second viva invalid. 

The government filed three leave-to-appeal petitions against that verdict.  

On 11 July 2010, a six-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by then Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, upheld the High Court's verdict declaring the first viva of the 27th BCS invalid and disposed of the government's appeals against the ruling on the second viva with certain observations.