Panel Recommends Blocking 20 Interim Govt Ordinances

A special parliamentary committee has recommended blocking 20 of the 133 ordinances issued during the interim government, including four concerning Supreme Court judge appointments and the creation of a separate Supreme Court Secretariat. The committee also suggested repealing these four ordinances entirely.

The report was presented in Parliament on Thursday by committee chairperson Zainul Abedin.

The review found that 16 ordinances should not be immediately introduced as bills but undergo further scrutiny to strengthen their provisions, with four proposed for outright repeal. Fourteen of these 16 faced opposition objections, and the committee noted that if the bills are not approved by April 12, the ordinances will automatically lapse.

Ninety-eight ordinances were deemed suitable to be presented in Parliament as bills in their current form, while 15 should be introduced as amended bills, though the report did not detail the specific changes.

The four ordinances recommended for repeal are:

National Parliament Secretariat (Interim Special Provision) Ordinance, 2024

Supreme Court Judge Appointment Ordinance, 2025

Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025

Supreme Court Secretariat (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026

Among the 16 ordinances suggested for reintroduction after review are the National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024; Revenue Policy and Management Ordinance, 2025; Referendum Ordinance, 2025; Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Remedy Ordinance, 2025; Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Microfinance Bank Ordinance, 2026; and Right to Information (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026.

Some ordinances faced no objections, including the VAT and Supplementary Duty (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Customs (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Civil Aviation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026; and Bangladesh Travel Agency (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026.

The 15 ordinances proposed for introduction in amended form cover areas such as women and child protection, public procurement, banking, anti-terrorism measures, criminal procedure, national data management, labour regulations, organ transplantation, police commission, tobacco control, human trafficking, land use, telecommunications, and private education staff welfare.