Caretaker govt: Hearing of 4 review petitions on 19 January

The Appellate Division has set 19 January as the date to hear four petitions filed by BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, five prominent citizens, and one individual, seeking a review of the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system.

A six-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, set the hearing date on Sunday.

Earlier, on 10 May, 2011, a seven-judge full bench of the Appellate Division declared the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which established the caretaker government system, null and void based on a majority opinion. The verdict followed an appeal against the High Court's ruling.

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

Earlier, five prominent individuals, including Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, filed a petition for a review of the verdict. The other petitioners are Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Jobairul Haque Bhuiyan, and Zahra Rahman.

On 23 October, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar filed another petition for a review of the verdict.

Additionally, freedom fighter Md. Mofazzal Hossain, a resident of Narayanpara in Raninagar, Naogaon, filed a separate petition for review of the Appellate Division's verdict. He also filed another petition regarding the Fifth Amendment.

The five separate review petitions concerning two constitutional amendments were listed as item number 4 on the Appellate Division's agenda today.

Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman represented the state in court, while senior lawyer Zainul Abedin and lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir appeared on behalf of the BNP Secretary General and the Jamaat Secretary General's applications.

Later, lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir told Prothom Alo that the Appellate Division has set 19 January as the date to hear the review petitions.

The caretaker government system was incorporated into the constitution through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1996. In 1998, Supreme Court lawyer M. Salimullah and others filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the validity of this amendment.

The High Court issued a rule after the initial hearing. Following the final hearing, a special bench of the High Court delivered its verdict on 4 August, 2004, declaring the Thirteenth Amendment to be valid and constitutional. A direct appeal was allowed against this ruling.

Subsequently, the writ petitioner filed an appeal in 2005. The Appellate Division granted the appeal and delivered its verdict on 10 May, 2011. In response to the verdict, the Fifteenth Amendment Act, which included the abolition of the caretaker government system, was passed by the National Parliament on 30 June, 2011. The gazette notification regarding this was published on 3 July, 2011.