The court directed the Bar Council to respond to the rule within eight weeks and stayed the cancellation until the rule is disposed of.

It also ordered the Bar Council to explain why the show-cause notice the Council had served on Faizee would not be declared illegal.

The Council in November asked Faizee to show cause within seven days why his enrolment should not be cancelled. Faizee did not reply to the notice, though.

Later, on April 24, the Bar Council at a meeting cancelled Faizee's certificate of enrolment.

The HC rule and the stay order followed a writ petition filed by Faizee on May 5 challenging the Council's show-cause notice and cancellation of his enrolment.

This is the first time in the country's judicial history that a sitting judge himself has turned to the highest court to save his job.

The respondents of the rule are the Bangladesh Bar Council represented by its secretary, its chairman and Vice-Chairman Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), which has waged a movement for removal of Faizee as a judge for his allegedly using a fake LLB certificate to qualify for his job, yesterday said that the High Court rule will not affect its agitation.

SCBA President Advocate Mahbubey Alam also questioned as to how ethical it is for a judge to file a writ petition in the High Court where he himself is a sitting judge.

Yesterday, the court heard the submission of Faizee's counsels Barrister Mainul Hossain, Barrister Azmalul Hossain and Advocate Monjur Kader.

Faizee in his petition said the cancellation of his enrolment has divided the lawyers into two groups for and against the cancellation. The two groups are in for a showdown, with one group calling for boycotting the court of the petitioner and even, the court of the chief justice.

Faizee noted that he had preferred not to reply to the show-cause notice as it was "clearly issued without any jurisdiction" and also because a contempt petition on the allegation that his LLB certificate was forged had been pending with the court at that time.

In its verdict of the contempt petition against two newspapers -- The Daily Prothom Alo and The Daily Bhorer Kagoj -- the High Court ruled that the contemners clearly failed to prove the allegation of forgery of the certificate, Faizee said yesterday.

"…The Vice Chancellor of Chittagong University stated that the LLB certificate of the petitioner (Faizee) was not cancelled and is 'still valid', there is no basis for the Bar Council to claim that the petitioner was not entitled to be enrolled," he maintained.

On the allegation that he had falsified his date of birth, Faizee noted that he had already explained to the Bar Council that his secondary school certificate wrongly recorded his date of birth. The Council, accordingly, had accepted the date of birth and issued a certificate of enrolment. There was no misrepresentation or concealment for any illegal gain, he stated.

Faizee claimed that the Bar Council has no jurisdiction to deal with matters related to the judges. He also stated that the Bar Council held its meeting at night without serving its members with proper notice.

"If the LLB certificate of a judge is to be challenged, there are legally constituted forums such as the Supreme Judicial Council. The Bar Council cannot assume jurisdiction over the conduct of judges [not] without keeping the judges hostage to the Bar Council," Faizee added.

Mahbubey Alam, also a Bar Council member, yesterday said, "The Bar Council will definitely fight this writ legally. The Bar Association is also considering becoming a party to the case."

"Our movement will not stop because of this writ petition, as the writ petition deals with the Bar Council, this has no link with the Supreme Court Bar Association.

"It looks odd for a judge to seek justice in court. As he is a judge in this court, the other judges may feel embarrassed in conducting a fair and neutral trial," Alam added.