The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on 20 November regarding the appeal seeking the reinstatement of the election-time caretaker government system.

A seven-member full bench, headed by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, fixed the date after completing the hearing today (11 November).

On 6 November, the Appellate Division adjourned till 11 November its hearings on the appeal challenging its previous judgment that abolished the non-party caretaker government system for holding national elections.

Earlier, on 27 August, the court 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 amendment and revival of the caretaker system.

Four review pleas have been filed in total: by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir; Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar; five prominent citizens, including SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar; and an individual petitioner. All were being heard together.

Previously, on 17 December last year, the High Court declared the abolition of the caretaker government system unconstitutional.

After the High Court judgment, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman told reporters that the ruling had effectively restored the caretaker provision as part of the Constitution.

Caretaker Government / Supreme Court