The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday set November 20 to deliver its verdict on several appeals seeking restoration of the non-party caretaker government system for national elections.
A seven-member bench headed by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed fixed the date after concluding the 10th day鈥檚 hearings on review petitions filed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik, and several others, including the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, challenging the court鈥檚 2011 verdict that scrapped the caretaker system.
The court began hearing afresh appeals on October 21, following its August 26 decision allowing five eminent citizens, including Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Mazumder, BNP secretary general and Jamaat, along with several other persons, to file a petition after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.
Attorney general Md Asaduzzaman argued that the 2011 judgment was flawed and delivered by the then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque in ignorance of key constitutional principles.
He said that the verdict declaring the 13th amendment unconstitutional was 鈥榩er incuriam鈥� and should be reviewed.
He told the court that justice Khairul Haque and four other judges had altered the short order on the caretaker government system 16 months after it was pronounced, violating judicial procedures 鈥� an act that could amount to a criminal offence under Section 219 of the Penal Code.
The attorney general said that the caretaker government system was designed to safeguard citizens鈥� rights, ensure fair elections, and strengthen democracy.
He argued that any constitutional interpretation that ignores people鈥檚 democratic rights is a 鈥榤isconception of constitutional interpretation.鈥�
The 2011 Appellate Division verdict annulled the caretaker government provision.
Lawyers for other petitioners, criticising the previous Appellate Division verdict, also prayed for the restoration of the caretaker government system in the constitution.
The government and the petitioners urged the apex court to announce the verdict effective from the next general election, which will be held under the present government.
Both counsels argued that the written judgment released in 2012, after former chief justice Khairul Haque鈥檚 retirement, omitted earlier oral observations that allowed the next two elections under a caretaker system.
Justice Md Wahhab Miah, one of the seven judges who heard the case, later said that the written verdict did not match the short order announced in open court.
The verdict was passed by a narrow 4鈥�3 majority, raising questions about its legitimacy and democratic implications.
