A Supreme Court lawyer today filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of keeping the post of chief justice vacant and not appointing a new chief justice.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond submitted the writ petition to the HC, praying to it to issue a rule asking the respondents to explain why their action keeping the post of chief justice vacant and not appointing a new chief justice should not be declared illegal.

Secretaries to the cabinet division, president’s office and the law ministry and prime minister’s principal secretary and registrar general of the Supreme Court have been made respondents to the required rule, Eunus Ali Akond told The Daily Star.

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

In the petition, Eunus prayed to the HC to order the respondents to appoint him the chief justice until disposal of the rule.

Eunus said he will move the writ petition before the HC on next Sunday.