Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman has said that the judgment abolishing the caretaker government system was written with political motives.
“The verdict abolishing the caretaker government system was written with political intent to benefit a particular political party. He (former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque) later altered the court’s judgment without conducting any review, which is a punishable offense under Section 219 of the Penal Code,” he said.
The Attorney General made the remarks today during the hearings on an appeal challenging its previous judgment that abolished the non-party caretaker government system for holding national elections.
Md Asaduzzaman also said during the proceedings, “We want democracy, not a facade in the name of democracy. Just three years after the War of Liberation, our democracy was killed for the first time.”
At the end of the eighth day of the appeal hearing, the seven-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed adjourned the hearting till tomorrow.
Earlier, senior lawyers Zainul Abedin and Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal argued for the BNP. Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir concluded the appeal hearing on behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami. Before them, senior lawyer Sharif Bhuiyan argued on behalf of five eminent citizens.
On August 27, 2025, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal against its 2011 verdict that declared the 13th Amendment, introducing the caretaker government system, unconstitutional.
The court granted the order after hearing multiple review petitions seeking the reinstatement of the 13th Amendment and revival of the caretaker system.
Four review pleas were filed in total – by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, five prominent citizens, including SUJAN Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, and an individual petitioner. All are being heard together.
Previously, on December 17, 2024, the High Court had declared the abolition of the caretaker government system unconstitutional.
After the High Court judgment, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman told reporters that the ruling effectively restored the caretaker provision as part of the Constitution.
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