Full verdict of 16th amendment case
Court cannot change original constitution: AG
The full verdict of the 16th amendment case, has become the talk of the town since its release on August 01, by the Supreme Court. Yesterday, another dimension was added to the issue
with government, finally, breaking its silence over the verdict and observations.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said that no court of law has the right to give any judicial view against any article of the original constitution of the country.
We are going back into the original constitution of 1972 through the 16th amendment to the constitution. The process of reverting Article 96 to the original constitution has been started following the 16th amendment, the chief law officer of the state said at a press briefing at his Supreme Court office in yesterday afternoon.
In response to a query, Alam said that the parliament would formulate law and the Constitution is supreme. The judiciary could not give any view over any original provision of the constitution, whether it was good or bad. The judiciary cannot lay its hand on the original article of the constitution, he added.
However, the attorney general said that the court would be empowered to give judicial view after bringing any amendment to the constitution.
He also said that all measures would be taken so that the independence of the judiciary would not be hampered following the formulation of the law by the government.
The court can conduct judicial proceeding and even declare it illegal, if the law in question, formulated by the government, would hamper the independence of the judiciary, the chief law officer of the state said.
The attorney generals briefing was held at a time when the country is witnessing debates over the recent Appellate Division verdict that upheld the High Courts decision to declare illegal the 16th amendment to the Constitution.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) was restored and parliaments authority to remove Supreme Court judges has been scrapped through the verdict.
The verdict has also raised question over many issues including the transparency of the Election Commission and its ability to hold a free, fair and impartial election.
