16TH AMENDMENT CASE VERDICT
Govt seeks certified copy
STAFF REPORTER
The government has applied to the Supreme Court seeking the certified copy of the 16th amendment case verdict, which restored Supreme Judicial Council scrapping the government authority to remove higher court judges for misconduct or incapacity. Confirming the matter, Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque Tutul yesterday told reporters that the government has recently filed a petition seeking the certified copy of the verdict.
Talking to this correspondent, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that his office was waiting for the governments go ahead to file a review petition against some of the observations by the Supreme Court (SC) in its verdict scrapping the 16th Amendment to the constitution. He, however, said his office was yet to receive any instruction from the government over the filing of the review to the apex court judgment. According to the provision, a review petition can be filed in 30 days after receiving the certified copy of the apex court.
On Sunday, Law Minister Anisul Huq had said that the government might file a review petition with the SC
and seek expunction of its irrelevant observations relating to the 16th Amendment verdict. The minister, however, did not specify any date for filing the petition. He said that they were identifying the irrelevant observations in the 799-page judgment.
The legal and political arenas have witnessed heated debates over the SC verdict, which has severely criticised the role of the present government. While ruling party lawmakers came down heavily on the verdict and the chief justice, who delivered the verdict, the BNP has hailed the judgment saying it exposed the governments misdeeds.
