HC stay on appointment of Justice Gour Gopal to remain

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that stayed the appointment of Justice Gour Gopal Saha as the vice chairman of Bangladesh Hindu Kalyan Trust.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice ABM Khairul Haque passed the order in response to a petition filed by the government seeking stay on the HC order.
The judge also asked the government to file a leave to appeal petition with the apex court against the HC order within eight weeks.
The government appointed Gour Gopal Saha, chairman of the Administrative Appellate Tribunal, as the vice chairman of the trust on June 6 this year.
The High Court on August 26 stayed for three months the appointment of Justice Gour Gopal as vice chairman of the trust. The court also stayed the appointment of 20 other trust officials.
It also issued a rule upon the government and Justice Gour Gopal to explain under what authority he (Gour Gopal) has been holding two posts simultaneously.
The HC passed the order following a writ petition filed by Taposh Kumar Paul, a lawyer, challenging the legality of holding two posts by Justice Gour Gopal simultaneously.
The government recently filed a petition with the SC seeking stay on the HC's stay order.
The chamber judge of the Appellate Division yesterday modified the HC order and stayed for eight weeks the portion of the HC order regarding the appointment of other officials of the trust other than Gour Gopal Saha.
Additional Attorney General MK Rahman and Advocate Manzil Murshid, a lawyer for the writ petitioner, told The Daily Star that following the chamber judge's order Justice Gour Gopal cannot function as vice chairman of the trust but the other officials can continue their services.