SC wants measures to prevent martial law
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
The Supreme Court (SC) said the state should have measures in place to prevent future imposition of martial law and military rule, reports bdnews24.com.
A six-member full bench of the court made the observation Tuesday during proceedings on petitions against the repeal of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Tafazzul Islam, was hearing the petitions filed by BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and three Jamaat-e-Islami-backed lawyers Munshi Ahsan Kabir, Tajul Islam and Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, seeking a stay on a 2005 High Court judgment that had declared the amendment illegal.
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, lawyer for Delwar, said in the hearing: "None of us support military rule. But when it prevails, what can we do."
The court asked him: "Should we then accept military rule?"
Ahmed replied: "It does not come with prior warnings."
The court said: "Measures should be taken so that military rule cannot be imposed again in Bangladesh in future."
The High Court had given its ruling on the Fifth Amendment in August 2005 in response to a petition challenging the legality of a Martial Law Regulation of 1977.
In its ruling, the High Court had declared three regimes between August 15, 1975 and 1979, headed by Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sa'dat Mohammad Sayem and Ziaur Rahman illegal.
An individual who claimed that his ownership of the Moon Cinema Hall had been expropriated by dint of the amendment that had legalised all the regimes between 1975 and 1979 had filed the original petition on which the ruling was given.
A six-member full bench of the court made the observation Tuesday during proceedings on petitions against the repeal of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Tafazzul Islam, was hearing the petitions filed by BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and three Jamaat-e-Islami-backed lawyers Munshi Ahsan Kabir, Tajul Islam and Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, seeking a stay on a 2005 High Court judgment that had declared the amendment illegal.
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, lawyer for Delwar, said in the hearing: "None of us support military rule. But when it prevails, what can we do."
The court asked him: "Should we then accept military rule?"
Ahmed replied: "It does not come with prior warnings."
The court said: "Measures should be taken so that military rule cannot be imposed again in Bangladesh in future."
The High Court had given its ruling on the Fifth Amendment in August 2005 in response to a petition challenging the legality of a Martial Law Regulation of 1977.
In its ruling, the High Court had declared three regimes between August 15, 1975 and 1979, headed by Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sa'dat Mohammad Sayem and Ziaur Rahman illegal.
An individual who claimed that his ownership of the Moon Cinema Hall had been expropriated by dint of the amendment that had legalised all the regimes between 1975 and 1979 had filed the original petition on which the ruling was given.