Next national election under caretaker govt as apex court upholds HC verdict
“The process for forming the caretaker government and who would be included in it would become clear after reviewing the full text of the judgment,” Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman says.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today (9 July) upheld a High Court verdict that declared several provisions introduced through the 15th Amendment to the Constitution illegal, ensuring that the next national election will be conducted under a non-partisan caretaker government.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the chief justice, dismissed the appeals challenging the High Court verdict, thereby affirming the lower court's findings on four key constitutional provisions introduced through the 15th Amendment.
"The High Court's decision remains in force. As a result, the authority to repeal Article 7B of the Constitution, reinstate the caretaker government system and the referendum, and enforce fundamental rights will remain exclusively with the Supreme Court, in line with the High Court's ruling," Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kazal said following the verdict.
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He added that the High Court had left all other amendments introduced through the 15th Amendment for parliament to decide.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman later said the next national election will be held under a caretaker government following the court order.
"The process for forming the caretaker government and who would be included in it would become clear after reviewing the full text of the judgement," he said while talking to reporters at his Secretariat office.
The 15th Amendment was passed by parliament on 30 June 2011 and received presidential assent on 3 July that year.
The amendment abolished the caretaker government system, granted constitutional recognition to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as Father of the Nation, increased the number of reserved parliamentary seats for women from 45 to 50, restored secularism and freedom of religion, and reinstated nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism as the fundamental principles of state policy.
It also classified the unconstitutional seizure of state power as treason punishable by the maximum penalty and amended the constitutional provision on parliamentary elections by requiring polls to be held within 90 days preceding the expiry of parliament's term instead of within the 90 days following its dissolution.
In August 2024, five citizens, including SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, filed a writ petition, challenging the validity of the amendment. On 19 August that year, the High Court issued a rule, asking why the amendment should not be declared inconsistent with the Constitution.
Later, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar, and several other individuals and organisations joined the proceedings as interveners. Freedom fighter Md Mofazzal Hossain also filed a separate writ petition.
On 17 December 2024, the High Court struck down the provisions, abolishing the caretaker government system, Articles 7A and 7B, Article 44(2) relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights, and the repeal of the referendum provision under Article 142.
Badiul, Porwar and other original petitioners, subsequently sought leave to appeal, arguing before the Appellate Division that the 15th Amendment should be annulled in its entirety.
