Attorney General: Interim Government Can Be Renamed as Caretaker Government for Elections

The Attorney General, Md. Asaduzzaman, has clarified that the existing interim government in Bangladesh can be renamed as a “caretaker government” during the upcoming elections, and there are no constitutional barriers to this change. He made the statement in response to the High Court’s verdict on Tuesday, which declared the decision to abolish the caretaker government system as “illegal and unlawful.”

Asaduzzaman explained that the terms “district judge” and “sessions judge” refer to the same individual, but the titles change depending on the context of the case they are handling. Similarly, he argued, the interim government could adopt the role of a caretaker government without any constitutional conflict, based on the context of elections.

“The interim government can be renamed as the caretaker government. For example, the district and sessions judge are the same person. When he handles a civil case, he is called the district judge; when handling a criminal case, he is the sessions judge. Similarly, the interim government can simply be called the caretaker government during the election period,” he said.

The Attorney General also addressed the High Court ruling regarding the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which had abolished the caretaker government system. While the writ petitioners sought to have the entire amendment declared illegal, the High Court did not make such a broad declaration. Instead, the court identified Articles 7A and 7B of the amendment as “illegal,” declaring that these provisions were not in line with the constitution.

Asaduzzaman commented on the ruling, saying, “The cancellation of the caretaker government system was illegal and motivated by specific political interests. The court mentioned the irregularities in the last three elections, the exile of democracy, the violations of the rule of law, and the damage to the judiciary as key points in its judgment.”

He also highlighted that the High Court ruling had addressed the curtailment of people’s power in the referendum process, declaring it illegal. However, the court left it to Parliament to resolve other related issues.

The Attorney General pointed out that the review application regarding the 13th Amendment case, which is pending in the Appellate Division, will likely provide further clarity on the matter.

In its verdict, the High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury declared that Sections 20 and 21 of the 15th Amendment, which abolished the non-partisan caretaker government system, were inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore null and void.

The ruling is significant as it casts doubt on the legitimacy of the current government’s stance on the caretaker system and opens the door for potential changes before the upcoming national elections. The case was heard by a range of prominent legal figures, with the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami also actively involved in the legal proceedings.

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