Jamaat files review petition to reinstate caretaker government

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has filed a review petition seeking reconsideration of the ruling that abolished the caretaker government system.

Jamaat's Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar submitted this review petition to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today (23 October). The party's lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir confirmed the matter.

Earlier, on 20 October, the Appellate Division's chamber judge scheduled a hearing for two separate review petitions regarding the ruling concerning the abolition of the caretaker government system for 24 October.

This matter will be heard in the full bench of the Appellate Division. On October 16, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed a review petition against the ruling that abolished the caretaker government system.

In August, Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar also filed a separate review application against the ruling.

The thirteenth amendment to the constitution, which included the caretaker government system, was adopted by the National Parliament in 1996. Challenging the validity of this amendment, three lawyers, including Advocate M Salimullah, filed a writ in the High Court. On 10 May 2011, the Supreme Court's Appellate Division declared the thirteenth amendment to the constitution "illegal" and annulled it, abolishing the caretaker government system. 

However, the court led by then Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque expressed that the 10th and 11th elections could be held under a caretaker government. The ruling stated that in this case, any decision regarding the chief adviser of the caretaker government could be made based on consensus in Parliament.