Dhaka – The hearing of the appeal filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the High Court order that declared illegal the 16th amendment to the Constitution ended on Thursday at about 1.15 pm.The seven-member full bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Thursday heard the arguments on behalf of the Government and the writ petitioner on the 11 th day of hearing. Later, the apex court kept the petition as Curia advisari vult, a Latin term meaning verdict could be delivered anytime.
The hearing that began on May 24 and ended yesterday. On Thursday morning, Additional Attorney General Murad Reza made submissions and then Attorney General Mahbubery Alam concluded arguments on behalf of the Government. Afterwards, advocate Manzil Morshed placed counter arguments on behalf of the writ petitioners.
The Appellate Division passed the order to pronounce the verdict, after hearing opinions from 10 Senior Advocates as amici curiae (friends of court) and from on behalf of the state. The apex court, on May 8, began the hearing rejecting a time petition filed by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.
Earlier on 8 February, the court appointed 12 eminent lawyers as amici curiae seeking their opinions about the legality of the 16th amendment. They are TH Khan, Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rafiqul Haque, Barrister M Amirul Islam, Barrister AF Hasan Arif, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, AJ Mohammad Ali, Barrister Rokonuddin Mahmud, Barrister Fida M Kamal, Barrister Ajmalul Hossain, Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan and M. I. Farooqui.
Of them Ajmalul Hossain made comments supporting the amendment and nine others opposed the amendment. However, Barrister Rafiqul Haque and Barrister Shafique Ahmed did not make any submission before the court on the matter.
On 17 September, 2014, the Jatiya Sangsad passed the 'Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill, 2014' without any opposition, empowering Parliament to impeach judges of the Supreme Court for their ‘incapacity’ or ‘misconduct’.
Nine Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition with the High Court on November 5, 2014, questioning the validity of the amendment. On 5 May last year, the High Court (HC) declared the 16th Amendment to the Constitution illegal. The government on January 4, this year, filed the appeal challenging the HC decision.
The Constitution drafted in 1972 had given the MPs the power to impeach judges and decide their term in office. But after the Fourth Amendment in 1975, the power was vested with the president.
