Supreme Court verdict on 16th amendment due any day

The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict any day on an appeal filed by the government against a High Court judgment that declared the 16th amendment to the constitution illegal. The amendment had empowered Parliament to dismiss Supreme Court judges if allegations of incapability or misconduct made against them were found true. A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, finished hearing the appeal on Thursday. On the 11th and final day, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, his deputy Murad Reza and petitioners’ counsel Manzil Murshed placed their submissions. After the hearing, the bench said it would explain each and every point of the discussion in its verdict. The “Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill-2014” was passed on September 17, 2014, but less than two months later nine Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition with the High Court to have the amendment declared illegal and unconstitutional. Following their petition, the High Court on May 5, 2016 declared the amendment illegal but the government challenged the verdict through an appeal lodged on January 4 this year.