HC Verdict on 16th Amendment: SC seeks 12 top jurists' opinions on govt appeal

The Supreme Court yesterday requested senior jurists to give their opinions on March 7 on an appeal against a High Court verdict that scrapped the 16th constitutional amendment empowering the parliament to remove SC judges for incapacity or misbehavior. 

The 12 legal experts requested to place their arguments as amici curiae (friends of the court) are advocate TH Khan, Dr Kamal Hossain, barrister M Amir-Ul Islam, barrister Rafique-ul Huq, barrister Shafique Ahmed, advocate AF Hasan Ariff, barrister MI Farooqui, barrister Ajmalul Hossain, advocate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud, advocate AJ Mohammad Ali and barrister Fida M Kamal.

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An eight-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha also fixed March 7 for hearing the appeal after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sought time to prepare arguments in favour of the appeal.

Advocate Manzill Murshid appeared for the writ petitioners.

The amendment to the constitution was passed in September 2014.

Following a writ petition, the HC in May last year declared the constitutional amendment illegal. It, however, allowed the government to appeal against it before the SC.

The government filed the appeal on January 4 this year.

During the hearing on the plea the following day, the SC said it would not welcome the proposed law that seeks to determine rules for removing its judges for incapacity or misconduct, as the draft of the law in question was prepared when a relevant case was pending with the HC.