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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has set August 26 of this year for holding a hearing on four separate review petitions filed challenging its verdict that annulled the Caretaker Government system.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, fixed the date on Thursday following a prayer made by lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir, who is representing Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in the case.
Later, in a briefing, lawyer Shishir Manir said, "We mentioned the review petitions in court for expeditious hearing. Considering the gravity of the petitions, the court placed them at the top of the cause-list to be heard on August 26."
BNP, represented by its Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, represented by its Secretary-General Miah Golam Porwar, and five prominent citizens including Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, the secretary of the rights organization Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik, and Md. Mofazzal Hossain, a freedom fighter from Naogaon, filed four separate petitions after the regime change on August 5 last year.
The caretaker government system was included in the Constitution in 1996 through the 13th amendment. Later, Supreme Court lawyer M. Salimullah (now deceased) and others filed a writ petition with the High Court in 1998 challenging the legality of this amendment.
Following the writ petition, the High Court declared the 13th Amendment of the Constitution as valid and constitutional on August 4, 2004.
Later, an appeal was filed against the verdict. The Appellate Division then announced the verdict on May 10, 2011, scrapping the Caretaker system on a majority view.
After the verdict was announced, the 15th Amendment Act was passed by the Jatiya Sangsad on June 30, 2011, addressing several issues, including the abolition of the caretaker government system.
No review petition was filed during the Sheikh Hasina regime challenging the verdict. However, after Sheikh Hasina's fall on August 5 this year amid a mass uprising, four review petitions were filed.
Civil society members Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Dr. Tofail Ahmed, M. Hafizuddin Khan, Md. Jobirul Hoque Bhuiyan, and Zahrah Rahman filed a petition on August 27. BNP filed a petition on November 16, and Jamaat filed a petition on October 23 challenging the apex court's verdict.
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