Apex court defers hearing of caretaker government review petitions for 2 weeks

The Appellate Division has deferred the hearing on four petitions, seeking a review of its verdict that scrapped the caretaker government system, for two weeks.

A three-member bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice M Ashfaqul Islam, passed the order on Tuesday.

Currently, Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed is out of the country.

Senior lawyers Joynul Abedin, Sharif Bhuiyan and Shishir Monir stood for the petitioners while Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman represented the state during the hearing in the court.

The caretaker government system was introduced in 1996. In 1998, a writ petition was submitted with the High Court (HC) challenging its validity.

The HC dismissed the writ on 4 August 2004, upholding the system's constitutionality.

Following this, the writ petitioners appealed in 2005. On May 10, 2011, the Appellate Division declared the Thirteenth Amendment unconstitutional.

The caretaker government system was formally abolished through the Fifteenth Amendment, passed in Parliament on 30 June 2011, and gazetted on 3 July that year.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, five people, including secretary to Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJON) Badiul Alam Majumdar, submitted a petition seeking a review of the verdict.

Besides, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed a separate petition on 16 October, while secretary general to Jamaat-e-Islami Mia Golam Parwar, submitted another on 23 October.