Dec 17 set for final verdict on 15th amendment

The High Court (HC) has set 17 December to deliver the final verdict on a writ petition challenging the legality of the 15th amendment to the constitution, which abolished the caretaker government system.

The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury set the date on Thursday (December 5) after concluding hearings yesterday.

The 15th amendment was passed in Parliament on June 30, 2011 and a gazette notification was published on July 3, 2011.

The amendment abolished the caretaker government system and increased the number of reserved seats for women in parliament from 45 to 50.

It also criminalised the unconstitutional seizure of state power as treason, punishable by the maximum penalty, constitutionally recognise Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation, restored secularism and religious freedom, and reintroduced nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism as state principles.

Following the passage of the amendment, five eminent individuals, including Badiul Alam Majumdar, Tofail Ahmed, M Hafiz Uddin Khan, Zobairul Haque Bhuiyan, and Zahra Rahman, filed a public interest writ petition challenging its legality.

The High Court issued a rule on the matter on August 19, 2011, after a preliminary hearing before the bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar.

The case was later transferred to the bench led by Justice Farah Mahbub for further proceedings, with hearings commencing on October 30.

Meanwhile, prominent opposition figures, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar, joined the petition to provide opinions on the rule.