SC to deliver verdict on 16th amendment Monday

Staff Correspondent: The Supreme Court (SC) will deliver a verdict tomorrow (Monday) on the appeal filed against the scrapping of the 16th amendment of the constitution empowering parliament to impeach the SC judges.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is set to pronounce the verdict.

It has been enlisted as first item in the bench’s cause list.

Earlier on June 1, the apex court bench kept the appeal as CAV after hearing the matter over 11 days.

Nine amici curiae (friends of court) including Dr Kamal Hossain and writ petitioners’ counsel Advocate Manzill Murshid placed arguments before the SC against the 16th amendment and one amicus curiae Barrister Ajmalul Hossain, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Additional Attorney General Murad Reza argued for the 16th amendment during hearings on the appeal.

On September 17 in 2014, the parliament passed the 'Constitution (16th Amendment) Bill, 2014' without any opposition, empowering parliament to impeach judges of the Supreme Court for their 'incapacity' or 'misconduct'.

Nine Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition with the High Court on November 5, 2014, challenging 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 filed an appeal challenging the HC decision.

The constitution drafted in 1972 had given the MPs the power to impeach judges and decide their term in office.

But after the Fourth Amendment in 1975, the power was vested with the president.

risingbd/DHAKA/July 2, 2017/Mehedi/Amirul