AL: 16th Amendment observation objectionable, irrelevant

Ruling Awami League has stated that some observations made by the apex court in the full text of the verdict on the legality of 16th Amendment of the Bangladesh Constitution are “irrelevant and unexpected.” On behalf of the party, the party’s presidium member Abdul Matin Khasru made the statement at a press briefing held at the party president's Dhanmondi office on Wednesday. The briefing was organised to rebut recent statements made by BNP on the 16th amendment verdict. Khasru said: “Some observations made by the Supreme Court are objectionable and irrelevant. However, there should not be any debate on the verdict of the Appellate Division. We don’t want to get involved in politics with SC’s verdict but BNP is doing so. “They [BNP] have been making it an issue as they don’t have any political issue. The Supreme Court is not our opponent but BNP has been trying to put us in a confrontational situation with the court,” the former law minister said. According to party sources, the ruling party has formed a team to evaluate the matter. The party, however, is yet to decide whether it would appeal against the overall observation made by the court or only against the unexpected portion. Awami League has earlier accused BNP of attaining political motives by misinterpreting the verdict and the observations of Supreme Court.

Law Commission chief terms verdict 'immature'

Law Commission Chairman and former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque has termed the Supreme Court verdict that scrapped the 16th Amendment as immature, planned and undemocratic. He made the remarks at a press conference held at the Law Commission on Wednesday. He said: “The verdict on the 16th Amendment has misinterpreted the constitution. The constitution has to be amended again in order to reinstate the Supreme Judicial Council.”This article was first published on Bangla Tribune