Review hearing to restore caretaker government system deferred

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has deferred till February 9 the hearing on the review petition filed on the scraping of the caretaker government system of the constitution.

A four-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam was scheduled to hold hearing on Sunday (January 19) as the review hearing petition was in today’s Cause List of the appellate division of Bangladesh Supreme Court.

The court fixed February 9 for the next hearing as senior lawyers -- advocate Joynul Abedin and Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajol filed a petition seeking time extension on behalf of BNP.

Earlier on December 1, the appellate division of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Reefat Ahmed fixed January 19 for review hearing on the scraping of caretaker government system.

On October 16, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam filed a review petition against the scraping of caretaker government system (13th Amendment) before the appellate division.

Earlier, another review petition was submitted to the apex court by the general secretary of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar.

Besides, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Prof Miah Golam Parwar also filed a petition regarding the same issue. The court later decided to hear all the petitions analogously.

The 13th Amendment of the constitution incorporating the caretaker government system was adopted by the parliament in 1996. Three lawyers led by M Salim Ullah filed a writ with the High Court challenging the legality of the amendment.

The appellate division on May 10, 2011 gave a judgment scrapping the 13th amendment of the constitution.

After the judgment, the Jatiya Sangsad on June 30, 2011 passed the 15th amendment keeping the scraping of the caretaker system with some ratifications. A gazette notification was also published in this regard on July 3 in that year.

Besides, a high court division bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Ray Chowdhury on December 17 gave a judgment scraping the 15th amendment mentioning that the Sections 20 and 21 of the 15th amendment are contrary to the constitution.