SC reinstates caretaker government system in Constitution

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of restoring the election-time non-party caretaker government system, upholding the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Appellate Division has declared the ruling that abolished the widely debated election-time non-party caretaker government system as illegal. At the same time, it upheld the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, reinstating the caretaker government system.

Although the ruling automatically restores the caretaker government system in the constitution, the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election will be held under an interim government. The caretaker government system will take effect from the 14th national parliamentary election.

The Appellate Division noted that the provisions related to the non-partisan government in Section 2 (ka) of the Fourth Part of the Constitution, which were incorporated in Section 3 of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, have been revived and reinstated through today’s ruling. The provisions related to the non-partisan government will only be applicable for future implementation.

This historic verdict was delivered by a full bench of seven judges, led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, at 9:40 AM on Thursday.

The other six judges on the bench were Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, Justice Md Rezaul Haque, Justice S. M. Emdadul Hoque, Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Farah Mahbub.

Earlier, after hearing an appeal against the ruling that canceled the 13th Amendment, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division had set today as the date for delivering the verdict.

On 27 August, following a review petition challenging the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system, the Appellate Division granted permission to appeal.