Hearing on review petitions to reinstate caretaker govt on 17 November
State has requested additional time for adequate preparation as the matter is of national interest
The Appellate Division has set 17 November as the date for hearing three petitions seeking review of the 2011 judgment that annulled the 13th amendment to the Bangladesh Constitution, which introduced the caretaker government system in 1996.
The full six-member bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed today (24 October) fixed the date after hearing the state's application requesting additional time for adequate preparation as the matter is of national interest.
Lawyers Zainul Abedin, Sharif Bhuiyan and Shishir Monir represented the petitioners during the hearing while Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman represented the state.
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One of the three petitions was filed in August by five civil society members, including SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, and the other two by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami this month.
Parliament passed the 13th amendment, which established the caretaker government provision, in 1996. However, its validity was challenged in 1998 by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate M Salimullah and two other lawyers, who filed a writ petition in the High Court.
On 4 August 2004, the High Court dismissed the writ and upheld the legality of the caretaker government system.
After the High Court's verdict, an appeal was filed by the petitioners in 2005, which led to a hearing by a seven-member full Appellate Division bench, headed by the then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque. On 10 May 2011, the bench, by a majority view, declared the 13th amendment unconstitutional and illegal.
Afterwards, the 15th amendment to the constitution, which included the abolition of the caretaker government system and other provisions, was passed by parliament on 30 June 2011. A gazette notification was also published in this regard several days later, on 3 July.
The court did, however, allow for the 10th and 11th general elections to be held under a caretaker government, contingent on parliamentary consensus over the appointment of the chief adviser.
Since the abolition of the system, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have persistently demanded its reinstatement.
The then ruling Awami League, on the other hand, firmly rejected these calls.
