The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for November 17 on three separate petitions seeking a review of the judgement that abolished the caretaker government system.
The six-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Rafat Ahmed, set this date on Thursday.
Earlier, the chamber judge court referred two review petitions to the full and regular bench of the Appellate Division for hearing.
Professor Mia Golam Parwar, Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, filed a review petition seeking reconsideration of the judgement that annulled the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which introduced the caretaker government system.
Additionally, on October 16, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also filed a review petition. Prior to that, Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar and four others had filed a review petition.
The 13th Amendment, which included the caretaker government system in the Constitution, was adopted by the National Parliament in 1996. In 1998, three lawyers, including Advocate M Salim Ullah, challenged the validity of this amendment by filing a writ in the High Court. On August 4, 2004, the High Court Division dismissed this writ and declared the caretaker government system valid.
Lawyers, including M Salim Ullah of the Supreme Court, also filed a writ in the High Court in 1998 challenging the validity of this amendment. After preliminary hearings, the High Court issued a rule. Following final hearings, the special bench of the High Court delivered its ruling on August 4, 2004.
Permission for a direct appeal against this ruling was granted. Consequently, in 2005, the petitioners appealed. The full bench of seven judges of the Appellate Division granted this appeal and declared the 13th Amendment to the Constitution void based on the majority opinion on May 10, 2011.
Following the ruling, the 15th Amendment Act, which abolished the caretaker government system along with several other issues, was passed in the National Parliament on June 30, 2011. A gazette was published on July 3, 2011, in this regard.