The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday ordered that the much-discussed election-time caretaker government system be reinstated in the Constitution of the country, declaring the 13th amendment to the constitution as legal. The verdict to abolish the non-partisan caretaker government system during the election period was illegal, according the apex court.
Yesterday at 9:40am, a seven member full bench headed by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed announced this historic verdict. The other bench members are - Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, Justice Md.Rezaul Haque, Justice SM Emdadul Haque, Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Farah Mahbub. During the delivery of the verdict, the courtroom was filled to the brim with lawyers and media personnel present. Although the caretaker government system automatically returns to the constitution through this verdict, the upcoming 13th National Parliament elections will be held under an interim government.
The ruling states that the caretaker government system will be effective from the 14th National Parliament election. The full bench of the Appellate Division, including the Chief Justice, gave this ruling unanimously. Earlier, the hearing of the appeal to reinstate the caretaker government system during the election period ended on November 11.
The date for announcing the verdict in this regard was set for November 20. After 10 consecutive days of hearings, the country’s highest court set the date for the verdict in this historic case.
Continuous hearings on the appeal of this case were held on October 22, 23, 28 and 29 and November 2, 4, 5, 6 and 11. Lawyer Dr. Sharif Bhuiyan heard the writ petition in the court, senior lawyer Zainul Abedin and Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal representing BNP took part in the hearing.
Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir heard the petition for Jamaat-e-Islami. Barrister Ehsan Abdullah Siddiqui, Barrister Badruddoza Badal, Advocate Mohsin Rashid, Barrister Shahriar Kabir heard the case as interveners. Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, Additional Attorney General Barrister Anik R. Haque heard the case for the state.
The hearing of the appeal to reinstate the caretaker system began on October 21. Earlier, on August 27, after hearing the application seeking review of the judgment canceling the caretaker government system, permission was granted to appeal.
Then, five prominent individuals including Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar filed separate appeals. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, including the caretaker government system, was adopted by the National Parliament in 1996.
In 1998, three lawyers including Advocate MSalim Ullah filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the validity of this amendment.
On August 4, 2004, the High Court Division dismissed the writ petition and declared the caretaker government system valid. A direct appeal was allowed against this judgment. Following this, the writ petitioner filed an appeal in 2005. Granting this appeal, a full bench of seven judges of the Appellate Division pronounced the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution null and void on May 10, 2011 based on a majority opinion.
Following the announced judgment, the Fifteenth Amendment Act, which brought several issues including the abolition of the caretaker government system, was passed by the National Parliament on June 30, 2011. The gazette in this regard was published on July 3, 2011.
After the change of government on August 5 last year, five prominent individuals including Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the civil society organization ‘Sujon’, filed a petition seeking a review of this judgment. The other four are - Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Jobairul Haque Bhuiyan and Zahra Rahman. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul, filed an application on October 16 seeking
a review of the verdict of the Appellate Division.
Apart from this, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Prof Parwar filed another application on October 23 last year seeking a review of the verdict. Later, freedom fighter Md. Mofazzal Hossain, a resident of Narayanpara, Raninagar, Naogaon, filed another application last year seeking a review of the verdict of the Appellate Division.
