The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court verdict declaring several provisions of the Constitution`s 15th Amendment—including the abolition of the widely debated caretaker government system—illegal. Lawyers said the ruling restores the caretaker government system and the constitutional provision for referendums.

The full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice, delivered the verdict on Thursday (July 9).

The 15th amendment of the constitution was placed in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on June 30, 2011, and a gazette was published on the amendment on July 3 in 2011.

The amendment had brought changes to 54 provisions of the constitution, including the abolition of the caretaker government system.

The High Court pronounced its judgment on December 17, 2024, declaring the scrapping of the caretaker government system in the constitution as "illegal".

HC also restored the provision of a referendum in the constitution.

Four eminent citizens of the country, including the General Secretary of SUJON (Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik), Badiul Alam Majumder, filed a writ petition before the High Court in August 2024, challenging the legality of the 15th amendment.

Freedom Fighter Md Mofazzal Hossain from Naogaon filed the other writ in this connection.

Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Miah Golam Parwar filed another petition on behalf of his party.