Staff Reporter:
The Appellate Division yesterday fixed November 20 for delivering its judgment on two review petitions concerning the reinstatement of a non-partisan caretaker government system during elections.
The seven-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, an-nounced the date after hearing the two petitions.
Earlier, on August 27, the Appellate Division allowed the filing of an appeal against the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system. The hearing of the appeal to restore the caretaker govern-ment system began on October 21.
The caretaker system was introduced into the Constitution through the 13th Amendment in 1996. Later, three lawyers, including Advocate M Salim Ullah, filed a writ petition challenging the amendment in 1998.
In 2005, the petitioner filed an appeal.
Acting on that appeal, a full bench of the Appellate Division, by a majority opinion, delivered a verdict on May 10, 2011, declaring the 13th Amendment null and void.
Following the verdict, the 15th Amendment Act, which abolished the caretaker government system along with several other changes, was passed in Parliament on June 30, 2011, with the gazette notifica-tion published on July 3 that year.
After the change of government, five prominent individuals, including Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJAN) Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, filed an appeal on August 5 last year seeking a review of the verdict. The other petitioners were Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Zobairul Haq Bhuiyan and Zahra Rahman.
Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed a review petition on October 16, followed by another from Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Prof Mia Golam Parwar on October 23.
