Review hearing in 16th Amendment case on 10 August
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on 11 July to review the apex court judgment that declared the 16th Amendment of the Constitution illegal.
An Appellate Division bench led by Senior Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order today (23 May), in the absence of the Chief Justice.
The 16th amendment, enacted on 17 September 2014, abolished the Chief Justice-led Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and reinstated Parliament's authority to remove judges. However, on 5 November 2014, several Supreme Court lawyers challenged the decision.
The High Court issued a rule on the amendment on 9 November 2014. Later, the HC declared the amendment illegal based on the view of the majority followed by a hearing on 5 May 2016.
The government appealed against the HC verdict in 2017.
A full bench of the Appellate Division, led by former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, heard the appeal and upheld the High Court's decision on 3 July 2017, with the full text of the verdict released on 1 August 2017.
The state has since filed a review application against that judgment.