The government has formed an 11-member committee, headed by attorney general Mahbubey Alam, to prepare a review petition against the Supreme Court (SC) verdict on the 16th amendment to the Constitution. The other members of the committee are: additional attorney generals Murad Reza and Momtaz Uddin Fakir, deputy attorney generals Motahar Hossain Saju, Bishwajt Debnath, Ekramul Huq Tutul, Masud Hasan Chowdhury Parag, Khandakar Diliruzzaman, Amit Talukdar and Rashed S Jahangir, and assistant attorney general Bashir Ahmed.

Talking to The Independent, attorney general Mahbubey Alam said that the committee had been formed eight days ago to prepare the review petition against the Appellate Division verdict that upheld a High Court (HC) order scrapping the 16th amendment to the Constitution that had empowered Parliament to remove SC judges for incapacity or misconduct.

The committee is examining the SC verdict and the relevant provisions of the Constitution and laws to prepare the review petition. The members of the committee are studying and examining the relevant points of law to prepare the review petition against the apex court verdict on the 16th amendment to the Constitution, said the chief law officer of the state.

The petition will be filed before the Appellate Division of the SC seeking the cancellation of its earlier verdict, he added.

In response to a query, Mahbubey Alam said that in the review petition, the government would pray to the SC to restore Parliament’s power to remove SC judges for incapacity or misbehaviour. “I have informed the government about the formation of the committee,” he added.

The apex court on August 1 released the full text of its verdict, scrapping the 16th amendment to the Constitution.

On September 17, 2014, the Jatiya Sangsad had passed the ‘Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill, 2014’ without any opposition, empowering Parliament to impeach judges of the Supreme Court for their ‘incapacity’ or ‘misconduct’.

On November 5, nine SC lawyers filed a writ petition with the HC, questioning the validity of the amendment.

On May 5 last year, the HC declared the 16th amendment to the Constitution illegal. The government on January 4 last filed an appeal challenging the HC decision. But, on July 3, a seven-member bench, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, upheld the HC verdict.