The Supreme Court Appellate Division on Thursday continued for the third day the hearing on a series of appeals and review petitions challenging its 2011 verdict that had annulled the election-time caretaker government system.
During the day鈥檚 proceedings, petitioner lawyer Shishir Manir, representing the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, told the court that the caretaker government system was abolished due to the arbitrary decision of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, not based on constitutional provisions or expert recommendations.
A seven-member bench, headed by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, heard the appeals and review petitions and fixed October 28 for next hearing.
Manir argued that the then Awami League government formed a special parliamentary committee in 2010 to review constitutional amendments and consulted stakeholders on the issue.
鈥楴one of the experts or members of the committee recommended abolishing the caretaker system. It was eliminated only by one person鈥檚 (Hasina鈥檚) arbitrary decision,鈥� he told the court.
He further said that 10 of the 14 SC judges had expressed support for retaining the caretaker system, but the decision of four judges led to its abolition.
鈥楾he verdict created an autocratic rule and destroyed the country鈥檚 politics and society, turning parliament into a house of flattery,鈥� said Manir.
He also told the court that the abolition of the caretaker system led to one-sided elections, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and execution of opposition leaders.
The lawyer also argued that the caretaker system could be automatically revived through a verdict of the Appellate Division, though it could not be implemented before the upcoming national elections.
Opposing any court-issued directive or guideline on the matter, Manir said that such directives might create obstacles to implementing electoral reforms and the July Charter as a proposal regarding the caretaker government was recommended in the charter.
He said that the then Appellate Division committed an error by altering the short order delivered in the open court regarding the caretaker system and adding new concepts to the full judgment released 16 months later, terming it politically motivated.
Manir maintained that the abolition of the caretaker system was 鈥榩re-planned and designed by the then regime,鈥� adding that the system itself strengthened democracy and did not violate the constitution鈥檚 basic structure.
Earlier on Tuesday, lawyer Sharif Bhuiyan concluded his two-day arguments that began on Monday on behalf of five eminent citizens, including Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik.
On August 27, the Appellate Division allowed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and five citizens, including Badiul Alam Majumdar, to move separate appeals against the 2011 verdict that cancelled the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The BNP, the Jamaat, five citizens, and freedom fighter Mofazzal Islam had filed review petitions last year after the fall of the AL regime on August 5, 2024, amid a student-led uprising that brought the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus to power.
The 13th Amendment was declared void on May 10, 2011, while the 15th Amendment, passed on June 30, 2011, formally abolished the caretaker government system.
