HC to hear rule on referendum ordinance, July Charter legality on 17 June

The High Court has fixed 17 June for hearing a rule on the legality of the July National Charter (Constitution Reform) Implementation Order issued under the interim government, the referendum ordinance, and provisions related to the oath-taking of members of the Constitution Reform Council.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury passed the order today (18 May), setting the date. The rule itself was issued earlier on 3 March.

Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim, Syed Mamun Mahbub, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, and Nationalist Lawyers' Forum organisational secretary Gazi Kamrul Islam represented the writ petitioners during the hearing. Additional Attorney General Mohammad Arshadur Rouf and Additional Attorney General Anik R Haque appeared for the state, acting as the Attorney General's office.

On 3 March, lawyer Mamun Mahbub told reporters that the court had issued a four-week rule asking why the July National Charter (Constitution Reform) Implementation Order should not be declared illegal, along with a separate rule questioning the legality of the referendum ordinance. He added that both the charter implementation order and the referendum ordinance had become sub judice matters.

On that day, senior lawyer Mohammad Hossain appeared for the National Citizen Party (NCP), while senior lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir represented Jamaat-e-Islami.

Shishir Monir later said that one rule concerns why the July Charter Implementation Order should not be deemed unconstitutional. Another rule questions the legality of the letter issued for administering the oath to members of the Constitution Reform Council as part of constitutional amendment proceedings. 

A further rule challenges section three of the referendum ordinance, which contains four questions, and another rule challenges the validity of 30 reform proposals included in the ordinance's schedule. He noted that four separate rules had been issued.

Supreme Court lawyer Chowdhury Md Redwan-e-Khoda filed a writ petition on 23 February challenging the legality of the July National Charter (Constitution Reform) Implementation Order, section three, and the schedule of the referendum ordinance.

Another writ petition was filed by Supreme Court lawyer Gazi Md Mahbub Alam, challenging the implementation order and a letter issued on 16 February regarding oath-taking of members of the Constitution Reform Council under the charter.

In his petition, Redwan-e-Khoda argued that the July National Charter Implementation Order and provisions of the referendum ordinance are inconsistent with the Constitution and should be declared without legal authority. He also sought an interim order restraining the operation of section three and the schedule of the referendum ordinance during the pendency of the rule.

Mahbub Alam's petition similarly argued that the implementation order and the 16 February letter regarding oath-taking are unconstitutional and should be declared void, seeking a similar interim suspension of their operation while the matter remains under judicial consideration.