SC restores caretaker govt, referendum provisions

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld a High Court ruling declaring several provisions of the much-debated Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution unlawful, including the abolition of the caretaker government system. As a result, the provisions for a caretaker government and referendums have been restored to the Constitution.

The four-member Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, delivered the verdict on Thursday morning. Following the ruling, lawyers said the High Court‍‍`s decision to reinstate the caretaker government system and the constitutional provision for referendums remains in force.

A total of three appeals were filed against the High Court‍‍`s ruling on the Fifteenth Amendment. One appeal was lodged by four individuals, including Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the civil society organization Shujan (Citizens for Good Governance). A separate appeal was filed by Md. Mofazzal Hossain, a resident of Naogaon. Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar also filed an individual appeal.

Ahead of the verdict, Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kajal said at a briefing on Wednesday that the Fifteenth Amendment had fundamentally altered the Constitution. He argued that the changes had undermined freedom of expression, democracy, and the country‍‍`s democratic and national progress.

The Awami League government passed the Fifteenth Amendment in Parliament on June 30, 2011, introducing a number of constitutional changes, including the abolition of the caretaker government system.

The amendment altered 54 provisions of the Constitution. Among its key changes, it introduced the maximum punishment for the unconstitutional seizure of state power, recognized Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation, and restored the Constitution‍‍`s four fundamental state principles—nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism.

Following the fall of the Awami League government during the July mass uprising, two separate writ petitions were filed with the High Court in 2024 challenging the legality of the Fifteenth Amendment and several of its provisions.

After concluding hearings, the High Court delivered its judgment on December 17, 2024. It declared Sections 20 and 21 of the Fifteenth Amendment Act—through which the provisions for the caretaker government and referendums had been removed from the Constitution—null and void. The court also struck down Articles 7A, 7B, and 44(2), which had been introduced through the amendment, ruling that they were inconsistent with the Constitution.

Hearings on the separate appeals against the High Court verdict began on Monday. After concluding arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Appellate Division reserved its judgment and set Thursday for the verdict, which it delivered on Thursday morning.