In a landmark constitutional verdict, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court judgment declaring several key provisions of the Constitution's Fifteenth Amendment unconstitutional.
The ruling includes the annulment of the amendment's abolition of the non-party caretaker government system, one of the most contentious constitutional changes introduced in 2011.
Lawyers said the judgment effectively restores both the caretaker government system and the constitutional provision for referendums.
The four-member Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury, delivered the verdict at 9:30am.
Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal said the appeals challenging the High Court judgment had been dismissed in full.
"The High Court judgment has been upheld. This means the restoration of the non-party caretaker government system, the referendum provision, Articles 7A and 7B of the Constitution, and the High Court's writ jurisdiction," he told reporters after the verdict.
The ruling came a day after the Appellate Division concluded three consecutive days of hearings on appeals against the High Court judgment that struck down several provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment. The court had fixed July 9 for pronouncing the verdict after concluding arguments on Wednesday.
The Attorney General represented the state during the hearing. Dr Sharif Bhuiyan appeared for the writ petitioners, while Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir represented Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Supreme Court had granted leave to appeal on November 13 last year against the High Court verdict declaring several provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment unconstitutional, including the repeal of the caretaker government system.
The Fifteenth Amendment was passed by Parliament on June 30, 2011, introducing sweeping changes to the Constitution, most notably abolishing the caretaker government system. The amendment received presidential assent on July 3, 2011.
Besides scrapping the caretaker government system, the amendment accorded constitutional recognition to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation, increased the number of reserved seats for women in Parliament from 45 to 50, restored secularism and freedom of religion, and reaffirmed nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism as the state's fundamental principles.
The amendment also made the unconstitutional seizure of state power an act of treason punishable by the maximum penalty.
It further altered the constitutional election timetable by requiring parliamentary elections to be held within the 90 days preceding the expiry of Parliament's term, replacing the earlier provision that required polls to be held within 90 days after the end of Parliament's tenure.
The constitutional challenge was initiated by five eminent citizens, including Shujan (Citizens for Good Governance) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, who filed a writ petition seeking the annulment of the amendment.
On August 19, 2024, the High Court issued a rule asking why the Fifteenth Amendment should not be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.
Several political parties, organisations and individuals later joined the proceedings as interveners in support of the rule. They included BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, Gono Forum and several other organisations and individuals, whose lawyers presented arguments before the court.
A separate writ petition challenging the amendment was also filed by Bir Muktijoddha Md Mofazzal Hossain, a resident of Narayanpara village in Raninagar upazila of Naogaon.
Following hearings on the rule, the High Court delivered its verdict on December 17, 2024, declaring several provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment unconstitutional. The Appellate Division's judgment on Thursday leaves that ruling intact, reaffirming one of the most consequential constitutional decisions in Bangladesh since the caretaker government system was abolished in 2011.