The Appellate Division has deferred the hearing of the appeal challenging the High Court verdict that invalidated several provisions of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution — including the abolition of the caretaker government system — until March 5, after the upcoming national elections.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order on Wednesday.
Earlier, on December 8, senior lawyer Dr Sharif Bhuiyan, counsel for writ petitioner Badiul Alam Majumder, argued for striking down the entire 15th Amendment. During the hearing, the chief justice observed that if there were procedural flaws in enacting the amendment, “the whole thing may be cancelled.”
On December 2, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir became a party to the appeal.
On December 17, 2024, the High Court declared several provisions introduced in the 15th Amendment, including the abolition of the caretaker government system, unconstitutional. The court also restored the provision for holding a referendum.
In its observations, the High Court said democracy is part of the Constitution’s basic structure, and free, fair and impartial elections are essential to uphold it. The verdict noted that the last three parliamentary elections held under partisan governments failed to reflect the will of the people, triggering the July uprising.
The court held that the caretaker system had been included in the Constitution according to the will of the people, and therefore had become part of its basic structure.
The judgment was delivered by the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury.
What the High Court declared unconstitutional
The High Court struck down:
The court observed that these provisions undermined the Constitution’s basic structure, including democracy and the enforcement of fundamental rights.
However, the High Court did not repeal the entire amendment, leaving decisions on the remaining provisions to the next Parliament. These include matters such as recognition of the Father of the Nation and the March 26 speech.
On the issue of referendum, the court declared Section 47 of the 15th Amendment Act — which removed the referendum provision introduced in the 12th Amendment — invalid, reinstating Article 142 as amended in 1991.
A full 139-page copy of the High Court verdict was released on July 8.
On November 3, Dr Sharif Bhuiyan filed a leave-to-appeal petition seeking cancellation of the entire 15th Amendment. The Appellate Division subsequently allowed the appeal.
Later, on November 13, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed formally permitted the appeal to proceed.
