Staff Reporter :
Jamaat-e-Islami’s lawyer Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir has said that even if the Supreme Court reinstates the caretaker government system through its upcoming verdict, it will not be possible to hold the 13th National Parliamentary Election under such an arrangement.
Speaking to reporters in front of the Supreme Court’s annex building on Tuesday (28 October), Shishir Monir explained that the constitutional provisions related to a caretaker government cannot be applied in the
current political context.
He said, “According to the constitutional provisions, a caretaker government is to be formed within 15 days of the dissolution of Parliament.
However, there is currently no Parliament — it was dissolved more than a year ago, and the country is now being governed by an interim administration.
Considering these circumstances, even if the Supreme Court restores the caretaker system, it cannot be applied in the upcoming election.”
Earlier in the day, Advocate Shishir Monir completed his arguments before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami in the ongoing hearings over the restoration of the caretaker government system.
The seven-member full bench, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, began the day’s hearing at 9:40 am.
The hearing on the appeal for reinstating the caretaker government began on 21 October.
The second and third days of the hearing were held on 22 and 23 October, during which Dr Sharif Bhuiyan argued on behalf of petitioner Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, and Barrister Ehsan A Siddiqi presented arguments as an intervenor.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal on 27 August, following a hearing on the review petitions that sought reconsideration of the 2011 verdict abolishing the caretaker government system.
Subsequently, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, along with five eminent citizens, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and Jamaat Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Porwar, filed appeals seeking the restoration of the system.
The caretaker government system was originally introduced in the Constitution through the 13th Amendment, passed by Parliament in 1996, to ensure neutral elections.
Its legality was challenged in 1998 by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate M. Salim Ullah and others. On 4 August 2004, the High Court declared the system valid and dismissed the petition.
However, the petitioners appealed, and in a landmark verdict on 10 May 2011, a seven-member Appellate Division bench declared the 13th Amendment unconstitutional by a majority opinion.
Following the judgment, Parliament passed the 15th Amendment on 30 June 2011, formally abolishing the caretaker government provision. The related gazette was published on 3 July 2011.
After the political change on 5 August, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, along with Tofail Ahmed, M Hafizuddin Khan, Zubairul Haque Bhuiyan, and Zahra Rahman, filed a review petition seeking reconsideration of the 2011 verdict.
BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir submitted a separate review petition on 16 October, followed by another from Professor Mia Golam Porwar on 23 October last year.
Freedom fighter Md Mofazzal Hossain from Raninagar, Naogaon, also filed a similar petition last year.
The Appellate Division is currently hearing these combined review petitions to determine whether the caretaker government system can be constitutionally restored.
However, legal experts say that even if the verdict favors reinstatement, its practical application before the 13th parliamentary election remains highly unlikely.
