Hearing on review petitions to reinstate the interim government on November 17

The Appellate Division has set November 17 as the date to hear three petitions seeking a review of the 2011 ruling that nullified the 13th amendment to the Bangladesh Constitution, which introduced the interim government system in 1996.

The full six-member bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed today (October 24) fixed the date after hearing the state’s plea seeking additional time for adequate preparation as the matter is of national interest.

Lawyers Zainul Abedin, Sharif Bhuiyan and Shishir Monir represented the petitioners during the hearing, while Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman represented the state.

One of the three petitions was filed in August by five civil society members, including SHUJAN secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, and the other two by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami this month.

Parliament passed the 13th amendment, which established the provision of caretaker government, in 1996. However, its validity was challenged in 1998 by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate M Salimullah and two other lawyers, who filed a petition in the High Court .

On August 4, 2004, the High Court rejected the order and confirmed the legality of the provisional government system.

Following the High Court verdict, an appeal was filed by the petitioners in 2005, which led to a hearing by a full bench of the seven-member Appellate Division headed by the then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque. On May 10, 2011, the bench, by majority, declared the 13th amendment unconstitutional and illegal.

Subsequently, the 15th amendment to the Constitution, which included the abolition of the provisional government system and other provisions, was approved by the parliament on 30 June 2011. A newsletter notification was also published in this regard several days later in July 3rd.

The court did, however, allow the 10th and 11th general elections to be held under a caretaker government, pending parliamentary consensus on the appointment of the chief advisor.

Since the system’s abolition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have persistently demanded its reinstatement.

The then ruling Awami League, on the other hand, firmly rejected these calls.