Caretaker government verdict review next hearing on Wednesday

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has adjourned until Wednesday the hearing on multiple review petitions challenging its 2011 verdict that annulled the caretaker government system.

The hearing began Tuesday morning (August 26) before a full seven-member bench led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed.

Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir represented the petitioners, while Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman appeared for the state.

Earlier, on February 11, a three-member bench led by Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam had postponed the hearing of four petitions filed by political parties and six individuals seeking a review of the landmark judgment.

The caretaker government provision was introduced through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1996. In 1998, a group of lawyers including Advocate M. Salim Ullah filed a writ petition challenging the validity of the amendment. The High Court dismissed the petition in 2004, upholding the system’s constitutionality.

However, following an appeal, a seven-member bench of the Appellate Division declared the Thirteenth Amendment unconstitutional on May 10, 2011. Subsequently, the National Parliament passed the Fifteenth Amendment on June 30, 2011, officially abolishing the caretaker government provision.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed a review petition in October 2024. Similar petitions were submitted by Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Prof. Mia Golam Parwar and civil society members including Badiul Alam Majumdar, Tofael Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Jobairul Haque Bhuiyan, and Zahra Rahman. Another petition was later filed by freedom fighter Md. Mofazzal Hossain of Naogaon.