Caretaker govt system reinstated
The High Court has declared the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished the much-debated caretaker government system, illegal.
The bench, comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury, passed the order on Tuesday.
As a result, there is no longer any legal barrier to the reinstatement of the caretaker government system.
In its observations, the High Court stated that the 15th Amendment was contrary to the brief ruling of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division regarding the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The High Court bench had set December 17 as the date to deliver its verdict on the rule issued regarding the legality of the 15th Amendment, following separate writ petitions.
The hearing on this matter concluded on December 4 before the same bench. During the hearing, lawyers Fida M. Kamal and Shahriar Kabir represented the petitioners.
On June 30, 2011, the 15th Amendment Bill was passed in the National Parliament, and the President approved it on July 3, 2011. Through this amendment, the caretaker government system was abolished, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was given constitutional recognition as the Father of the Nation.
Additionally, the number of reserved seats for women in the National Parliament was increased from 45 to 50, secularism and religious freedom were reinstated in the Constitution, and the principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism were added as state principles.
Earlier, on August 18, a writ petition seeking the cancellation of this amendment was filed in the High Court by five prominent individuals, including Badiul Alam Majumdar, the General Secretary of Citizens for Good Governance (Shujan). On August 19, the High Court issued a rule asking why the 15th Amendment to the Constitution should not be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.
Subsequently, several figures, including Jamaat-e-Islami's Secretary-General Mia Golam Parwar, BNP's Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and leaders from Gano Forum, joined the case as interveners in support of the rule. Additionally, a freedom fighter named Md. Mofazzal Hossain also filed a writ petition.
