Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, in his review petition with the apex court, has presented 10 grounds for restoring the caretaker government (CG) system.
The 807-page petition was filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday, seeking a review of the cancellation order of the 13th amendment to the Constitution, which abolished the caretaker system.
Senior Advocate of the SC and President of the Jatiotabadi Ainjibi Forum, Advocate Zainul Abedin, briefed the media about the review petition on behalf of the petitioner at the Shaheed Shafiur Rahman Auditorium at the SC.
Zainul said that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir filed a petition to review the verdict that annulled the 13th amendment to the Constitution, through which the caretaker government system was scrapped.
He said that the review petition suggests 10 arguments to revoke the earlier SC order canceling the 13th amendment.
The grounds include the assertion that the brief order regarding the 13th amendment had been excluded from the complete verdict after the amendment to the Constitution, constituting judicial fraudulence in releasing the verdict 18 months after the retirement of then Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque.
It was noted in the grounds that a criminal case is currently underway regarding this issue.
The grounds further argue that democracy and free, fair elections are like twins, where one is meaningless without the other, and that fair elections are the only acceptable means to establish democracy.
It also states that autocracy was established following the cancellation of the 13th amendment.
The arguments presented to the apex court for restoring the caretaker system also contend that the Constitution is a living document and its effectiveness will wane if it cannot meet the demands of the times.
The Supreme Court has the responsibility to interpret the Constitution relevantly rather than mechanically, the petition asserts.
Additionally, it claims that the caretaker government system was established through national consensus, thereby granting the 13th amendment basic status.
“The Supreme Court doesn’t declare the basic status unconstitutional,” it states.
Previously, on May 10, 2011, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court declared the 13th amendment, which introduced the caretaker government system, illegal.
Advocate Zainul Abedin said that after the cancellation of the caretaker government system, national elections were held in 2014, 2018, and 2024 amid unprecedented vote rigging.
“As a result, democracy faltered. Autocracy was established, and fascism took root in the nation,” he asserted. He continued that the fascist government was ousted through the students' and people's movement on August 5 last year, compelling the former Prime Minister to flee the country.
“The interim government was formed based on the opinion of the Supreme Court, and the people became free, achieving a second independence,” he stated.
Referring to the elections held under the caretaker government system in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2008, the senior SC lawyer noted, “Democracy gained institutional shape through the elections under the caretaker government system.”
Zainul said that the Awami League assumed office after securing a two-thirds majority in the election held on December 29, 2008.
He added that the caretaker government system was canceled in Parliament by the Awami League government before the full verdict on the cancellation of the 13th amendment to the Constitution was delivered.
The full verdict was published later, he noted, adding that the released verdict differed from the delivered one, which amounted to a deception of the judiciary.
Speaking on the occasion, Barrister Kayser Kamal stated that 95 percent of the people believe that elections would be free, fair, and neutral under the caretaker government system.
“BNP, as the party of the people, has taken the initiative to fulfill the aspirations of the masses,” he said.
