Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said the government will seek a review of the Appellate Division’s verdict that scrapped the 16th Amendment to the Bangladesh Constitution.
“I have received the copy of the full verdict. Now I will work according to the instructions of the ministry,” he told the Bangla Tribune.
However, he did not elaborate on the matter.
According to law, a review petition has to be filed within a month of release of the full text of the verdict.
The full text of the verdict was released on August 1. The Government has 27 days time to file the review.
On July 3, the Supreme Court unanimously declared the 16th Amendment to the constitution illegal, which means parliament no longer has the power to impeach judges of the apex court.
The amendment – passed on September 17, 2014 – empowered parliament to dismiss Supreme Court judges if allegations of incapability or misconduct made against them were found true.
However, the apex court’s own mechanism for removing judges has been initiated, and Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and clauses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of article 96 of the constitution restored, with the amendment being scrapped.
Also Read- Full text of 16th Amendment verdict released
Neither individual judges nor the judiciary should be accountable to the executive, because the branch of the state is inimical to judicial independence that is a necessary requirement for the judges to discharge their responsibilities to resolve any disputes fairly and impartially, the text of the verdict reads.
The court in the 799-page appeal verdict expunged some remarks made by the High Court in its verdict regarding the members of parliament (MPs), saying courts or judges should have mutual respect.
It also approved a code of conduct for the judges and said that failure to comply with the code would be considered a gross misconduct.
“Since this amendment is ultra vires the constitution, the provision prevailing before the substitution is restored. The appeal is accordingly dismissed,” the apex court said in the verdict.
On July 3 this year, a seven-member bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha announced the short verdict on the amendment.
In the 5th amendment case, the apex court found the SJC, comprised of the chief justice and two senior most judges of the Appellate Division, a more transparent process of removing judges, Sinha mentioned in the judgment.This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
Thursday, June 04, 2026
