The High Court today deferred for a week the hearing on a writ petition that challenged the legality of keeping the post of chief justice vacant and not appointing a successor to former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

The bench of Justice Zinat Ara and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo passed the deferment order after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sought one week’s time for taking preparation to place arguments on the petition.

On January 18 the HC bench fixed today for hearing the petition, as four separate HC benches had earlier refused to deal with the same petition.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond, a Supreme Court lawyer, submitted the writ petition as public interest litigation to the HC on January 3, seeking an HC rule asking the government to explain why their action of keeping the post vacant and not appointing a new chief justice should not be declared illegal.

Quoting from the petition, Eunus said the post of chief justice cannot be kept vacant even for a day under the constitution, but the respondents have not appointed a new chief justice after Justice SK Sinha resigned on November 10 last year.

Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has been discharging the duties of chief justice since October 3 last year, when then chief justice SK Sinha went on leave before finally stepping down.