Result Cancellation Triggers Bar Council Protest; Vice-Chair Blames Judicial Officer

A group of candidates who had passed the Bangladesh Bar Council enrolment examinations with grace marks staged protests on Monday after their results were cancelled amid an escalating controversy.

The candidates gathered in front of the chambers of Bar Council vice-chairman Zainul Abedin, a pro-BNP lawyer, and executive member Ruhul Quddus Kazal, demanding reinstatement of their annulled results.

The Bar Council, a statutory body under the law ministry, cancelled the reviewed results of more than 1,900 candidates on Sunday following allegations that grace marks had been used to secure a passing score for the daughter of Zainul Abedin.

The protesting examinees also attempted to enter the office of Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed but were obstructed and denied access.

Meanwhile, the National Lawyers Alliance — aligned with the National Citizen Party — demanded immediate elections to fill 13 Bar Council seats and called for dissolving the existing ad hoc committee. The group accused the committee of irresponsibility, inefficiency, and a lack of transparency in the advocate enrolment process. It also demanded nationwide elections for all Bar associations, including those in Dhaka, the Supreme Court, and Chattogram.

Alliance leaders, including central convener SM Azmal Hossain Bachcu, joint convener Mustafa Azgar Sharifi, joint member secretaries Nazmus Shakib, Sefayet Ullah, Bishwanath Karmakar, Meri Akhter, and chief organiser Shakil Ahmad, briefed journalists at the Supreme Court compound on Monday.

At a discussion held the same day, Zainul Abedin blamed a judicial officer at the Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission for allegedly overstepping his authority and interfering in the enrolment process — responsibilities he said previously lay with elected Bar Council members.

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman — the ex-officio chairman of the Bar Council — and members Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Ruhul Quddus Kazal also attended the programme at the Supreme Court auditorium in Dhaka.

Zainul claimed that the Judicial Service Commission prepared the enrolment results and then instructed the council to approve them, alleging that one official was “turning day into night” and damaging the council’s reputation.

He argued that legislation enacted during the former Awami League government had transferred major functions — such as preparing question papers and evaluating answer scripts — from the Bar Council to the commission. The enrolment committee had authorised the commission to conduct both the preliminary and written examinations.

According to Zainul, the Bar Council must regain authority over the enrolment examinations, which are currently managed by the enrolment committee with technical support from the Judicial Service Commission.

Zainul serves on the five-member enrolment committee headed by Appellate Division Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam. Other members include High Court Justices Mustafa Zaman Islam and Mohammad Ali, and the attorney general.

A notice posted on the Bar Council website by secretary Mohammad Kamal Hossain Sikder said the enrolment committee cancelled the revised results and would re-evaluate the answer scripts of all candidates who failed, following a surge of applications seeking further review.

The written enrolment examination was held on June 28, and results published on October 25, declaring 7,917 candidates successful.

Following publication, thousands of unsuccessful candidates applied for review. The council’s elected members subsequently asked the enrolment committee to reconsider the results using its inherent powers. In total, 7,558 failed candidates sought re-evaluation.

During the review, the committee decided to award three grace marks to all candidates who scored 47 — one mark short of the pass threshold.

Sources in the Bar Council said this grace-mark policy effectively enabled Zainul Abedin’s daughter to pass, sparking the controversy.

As more requests for re-review continued to arrive, the enrolment committee cancelled the results of all candidates who had passed with grace marks, the notice said.