The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court verdict that declared unconstitutional four key provisions of the Constitution (15th Amendment) Act, 2011, including the abolition of the non-party caretaker government system.

At the same time, the apex court left all other issues relating to the 15th Amendment to be decided by the Parliament.

A four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury dismissed three appeals that sought to have the entire Fifteenth Amendment declared unconstitutional.

By affirming the High Court judgment, the Appellate Division upheld the restoration of the constitutional provisions relating to the non-party caretaker government. The 15th Amendment had repealed Chapter IIA and Article 58A, which provided for the caretaker government system.

The Appellate Division also upheld the High Court’s decision declaring Article 7A unconstitutional. The article, inserted through the 15th Amendment, criminalised any attempt to abrogate, suspend or subvert the Constitution.

The apex court further upheld the High Court’s declaration that Article 44(2), inserted by the 15th Amendment, is unconstitutional and restored Article 44 to its original 1972 form, strengthening citizens’ right to enforce fundamental rights before the High Court.

The court also upheld the High Court’s decision regarding the constitutional provision on referendum introduced by the 15th Amendment.

However, the Appellate Division did not interfere with the High Court’s decision to leave all other provisions of the 15th Amendment for consideration by the next Jatiya Sangsad.

Those unresolved issues include the constitutional amendments relating to secularism, nationality, changes to the preamble, the mandatory display of the portrait of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in government offices and Bangladesh missions abroad, and other additions, omissions and modifications introduced by the 15th Amendment.

The 139-page High Court judgment, delivered on December 17, 2024, by Justice Farah Mahbub, now an Appellate Division judge, and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury, declared several provisions of the 15th Amendment unconstitutional while leaving the remaining issues to Parliament.

The High Court also ruled that the restored caretaker government system would apply prospectively and not invalidate past elections.

The 15th Amendment was passed by the Awami League-led Parliament in 2011. It abolished the caretaker government system, despite objections from opposition political parties and contrary to the recommendation of the parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendment.

The High Court delivered its judgment in two public interest writ petitions filed in 2024 after the August 5 student-led uprising that led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.

The petitioners, including Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Majumder and other civil society members, argued that the 15th Amendment weakened democratic accountability and constitutional safeguards. The petitions were supported by the BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Gono Forum and several other opposition parties.

The demand for a non-party caretaker government first gained momentum after allegations of widespread vote rigging in the 1994 Magura by-election. The system was later incorporated into the Constitution through the 13nth Amendment on March 28, 1996 following a broad political consensus.