HC annulment of 16th amendment
SC to deliver verdict on govt appeal today
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court will deliver its verdict today on a government appeal filed against a High Court (HC) order that declared illegal the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which had established Parliaments authority to remove Supreme Court judges for incapacity or misbehaviour.
In its daily cause list, the seven-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, has kept the matter as item number 1 for delivering verdict.
Earlier, on June 1, after concluding hearing on the appeal for 11 days, the apex court kept the petition as CAV (Curia Advisari Vult), a Latin term meaning verdict could be delivered anytime.
Considering the importance of the case, the Supreme Court had, on February 8, appointed 12 senior jurists as amicus curiae to seek their opinion on the legality of the Sixteenth Amendment. The amici curiae are former Justice TH Khan, Dr Kamal Hossain, barrister M Amir-ul Islam, barrister Rafiqul Haque, barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud, former Attorney General AJ Mohammad Ali, barrister Fida M Kamal, barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC, former Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed, former Attorney General AF Hasan Arif, and senior advocates MI Farooki and Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan.
Among them, nine amici curiae suggested scrapping of the amendment, while one amicus curiae Barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC talked in favour of the amendment. Two others barrister Rafiqul Haque and ex-Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed did not give any opinion.
On September 17, 2014, the Jatiya Sangsad passed the Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill, 2014 without any opposition, empowering Parliament to impeach judges of the Supreme Court for incapacity or misconduct.
Nine Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition before the High Court on November 5, 2014, questioning the validity of the amendment. On May 5 last year, the HC declared the Sixteenth Amendment illegal.
The government, on January 4 this year, filed an 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.
