Staff Reporter :
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has filed a petition seeking review of its verdict that scrapped the non-party caretaker government system in 2011.
Mohammad Shishir Monir, a lawyer at the Supreme Court, confirmed the information on Wednesday.
Advocate Zainul Abedin who serve as the senior lawyer for the case will brief the media over the issue on Thursday.
Earlier on August 27, a petition was filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking review of its verdict that scrapped the non-party caretaker government system in 2011.
Advocate Sharif Bhuiyan and Barrister Tanim Hussain Shawon submitted the review petition on behalf of five citizens including Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of the rights organization “Shushaner Jonmo Nagorik”.
The petition outlines approximately 14 grounds on which the Supreme Court may reconsider its judgment.
The other petitioners are- Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Md Jobirul Hoque Bhuiyan and Zahrah Rahman.
The petition sought the cancellation of the judgment of the Appellate Division which invalidated the caretaker government system by declaring the 13th amendment of the Constitution illegal.
Following the fall of dictator Ershad in 1990, the 13th Amendment introduced the caretaker government system into the Constitution.
Supreme Court lawyer M Salimullah (now dead) and others filed a writ petition with the High Court in 1998 challenging the validity of this amendment.
The High Court on August 4, 2004 declared the 13th Amendment of the Constitution as valid and constitutional.
The court, however, allowed the writ petitioners to directly file an appeal with the Appellate Division challenging its judgment.
Following this, the writ petitioners in 2005 appealed before the Appellate Division against the High Court verdict.
The Appellate Division then announced the verdict on May 10, 2010, allowing this appeal.
After the verdict was announced, the 15th Amendment Act was passed by the National Parliament on June 30, 2011, bringing several issues, including the abolition of the caretaker government system.
A gazette was published on July 3, 2011.
This amendment reinstated secularism and religious freedom in the Constitution and added nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism as state principles.
Through this amendment, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also recognized as the Father of the Nation.
Additionally, the caretaker government system was abolished. The number of reserved seats for women in the national parliament was increased from 45 to 50.
Two new clauses, 7(A) and 7(B), were added after Article 7 of the Constitution, which aimed to prevent any unconstitutional seizure of state power.
The bill was passed with a vote of 291-1, amidst a boycott by the then opposition party, BNP.