7th amendment declared illegal
August 26, 2010
The High Court on Thursday declared illegal the seventh amendment to the country’s constitution that legitimised HM Ershad’s military takeover and the acts under his military rule.
An HC bench of Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain passed the order following a writ petition that challenged the constitution’s seventh amendment.
The seventh amendment ratified the proclamation of martial law and other regulations, orders and instructions by Ershad between March 24, 1982, and November 10, 1986. Ershad, the then chief of army staff, declared himself the chief martial law administrator and imposed martial law on March 24, 1982 and captured power from an elected government in 1982 (BNP government led by Justice Sattar).
The High Court observed that HM Ershad had made the constitution subordinate to the martial law, which is illegal and unconstitutional.
The constitution is the supreme law of the country. It cannot be made subordinate to any law, the court said.
The government would decide about the fate of HM Ershad, it added.
The HC observed the persons, who illegally took over the state power, should be suitably punished and the Parliament can enact relevant law in this regard.
The HC has recently started hearing on the petition after it on April 5 issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why the seventh amendment to the constitution should not be adjudged illegal.
It had come up with the rule after hearing the writ petition filed by Siddique Ahmed, convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a martial law court in Chittagong in 1986.
Siddique, in his petition, said martial law and the rules and orders under it are illegal in view of the basic framework of Bangladesh’s constitution.
He prayed for a direction upon the government to arrange retrial of the case in which he was convicted and sentenced.
On February 2, the Supreme Court dismissed two petitions contesting the High Court verdict that declared the constitution’s fifth amendment illegal.
The fifth amendment had ratified all changes made to the constitution and all the government activities between August 15, 1975, and April 9, 1979, giving legitimacy to the regimes of Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem and Major General Ziaur Rahman.
Source: thedailystar.net
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