Hearing on review petition against 16th amendment verdict Sunday
The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday (20 October) will hold the hearing on the review petition against the Appellate Division's verdict that declared illegal the 16th amendment which empowered the parliament to remove judges.
The Appellate Division's case list for Sunday on the SC's website shows that the review petition filed on behalf of the government has been placed first on the list for hearing.
On 16 October, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement laid siege to the High Court (HC) and held a protest programme demanding the resignation or removal of judges who are "partisan, corrupt, and allies of the fascist Awami League government". In the face of their demands, on the same day, the SC announced the decision not to give benches to 12 HC judges.
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SC Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan told protesters that day, "You know there is a legal process for the resignation or removal of a judge. Currently, there is no such law in the country.
"The previous government initiated a provision for the removal of judges through the parliament, resulting in a constitutional amendment. However, the SC scrapped it. The government has filed a review application against this judgment in the Appellate Division. On Sunday [20 October], an SC bench, led by the chief justice, will decide on the review petition."
The 16th amendment, enacted on 17 September 2014, abolished the chief justice-led Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and reinstated the parliament's authority to remove judges. However, on 5 November 2014, several SC lawyers challenged the decision.
The HC issued a rule on the amendment on 9 November 2014. Later, the HC declared the amendment illegal based on the view of the majority followed by a hearing on 5 May 2016.
The government appealed against the HC verdict in 2017.
A full bench of the Appellate Division, led by former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, heard the appeal and upheld the HC decision on 3 July 2017, with the full text of the verdict released on 1 August 2017.
The state has since filed a review application against that judgment.
