Writ seeking direction to administer oath to the President by the Chief Justice

Writ seeking direction to administer oath to the President by the Chief Justice

National Desk :    |    ০৫:০৪ পিএম, ২০২৫-০৩-১০

News Desk: A writ petition has been filed seeking direction to have the country's Chief Justice administer the oath to the President.

On Monday (March 10), Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Farook filed this writ petition on behalf of lyricist and constitutional analyst Shahidullah Faraiji.

Barrister Farook confirmed the matter. The writ petition has made the concerned parties, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, respondents.

Lyricist and constitutional analyst Shahidullah Faraiji said in the writ petition that in most countries of the world, the Chief Justice of that country administers the oath to the President. In countries with a parliamentary system of government or a presidential system of government, the President also takes the oath to the Chief Justice. This is a constitutionally recognized and established custom worldwide.

But in Bangladesh, there is a deviation from this. The Speaker of the National Assembly administers the oath to the President of our country. Ignoring the judiciary in the swearing-in of the head of state is, in a way, destroying the balance between the three branches of the state. In this, the state is separated from the deep philosophical foundation of the constitution. That philosophical foundation is that the President shall be elected by the parliament and shall take oath before the Chief Justice and shall perform his duties as the head of state, this is the inalienable constitutional directive of the republic.

The constitution has given republican status to two posts in Bangladesh. The two posts are—the President and the Chief Justice. (The name of the republic is associated with the names and titles of these two) Article 48(1) of the constitution states, ‘There shall be a President of Bangladesh. Who shall be elected by the members of parliament in accordance with the law. As the head of state, the President shall be above all other persons in the state.’ Article 94 (2) of the Constitution states, “The Chief Justice shall be called the ‘Chief Justice of Bangladesh’.”