Review hearing on caretaker government postponed for 2 weeks

The Appellate Division has postponed the hearing of four petitions filed by political parties and six individuals seeking review of the verdict to abolish the caretaker government system for 2 weeks.

On Tuesday (February 11), the three-member Appellate Division headed by Senior Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam gave the order.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted by the National Parliament in 1996, including the caretaker government system in the Constitution. In 1998, three lawyers, including Advocate M. Salim 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.

Supreme Court lawyer M. Salim Ullah and others filed a writ petition in the High Court in 1998 regarding the validity of this amendment. After the initial hearing, the High Court issued a rule. The special bench of the High Court, after the final hearing, gave its verdict on August 4, 2004.

A direct appeal was allowed against this verdict. In continuation of this, the writ petitioner filed an appeal in 2005. Granting this appeal, the 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 the majority opinion.

After the announced verdict, 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 regarding this was published on July 3, 2011.

After the change of government on August 5, five prominent individuals including Badiul Alam Majumdar, editor of Sushasan khan Nagorik (Sujon), filed a petition seeking a review of this verdict. The other four are Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Jobairul Haque Bhuiyan and Zahra Rahman.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed an application on October 16 seeking a review of the Appellate Division's verdict.

In addition, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Professor Mia Golam 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 an application last year seeking a review of the Appellate Division's verdict.