HC concludes hearing on 15th amendment

The High Court today concluded the hearing on a writ petition challenging the constitutionality of the 15th amendment to the constitution, which scrapped the caretaker government system.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury completed the hearing with arguments presented by Barrister Belayet Hossain, representing the Centre for Law, Governance and Policy as an intervener in the case.
During his submission, Belayet argued that the 15th amendment should be scrapped, labelling it a “mini-constitution” for having altered more than 50 articles.
The HC bench has scheduled the hearing of a similar writ petition for Wednesday.
A date for delivering verdicts on both petitions may be set that day, Belayet told The Daily Star.
The 15th amendment bill was passed by parliament on June 30, 2011, and signed into law on July 3 the same year. It abolished the caretaker government system introduced by the 13th amendment in 1996. The amendment also recognised Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation and increased the number of reserved seats for women in parliament from 45 to 50.
Since the amendment, three general elections have been held — on January 5, 2014, December 30, 2018, and January 7, 2024 — with Sheikh Hasina serving as prime minister in all three terms.