The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is set to resume hearing on March 8 on appeals challenging the 15th amendment to the Constitution. The case will be heard by an Appellate Division bench led by the Chief Justice. The appeal follows the High Court’s December 17 verdict, which had ruled on several provisions of the amendment. The Appellate Division had earlier, on November 13, granted permission to appeal against that verdict.

The 15th amendment, passed by Parliament on June 30, 2011, and approved by the President on July 3, 2011, abolished the caretaker government system and introduced several constitutional changes. These included recognizing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation, increasing reserved seats for women in Parliament from 45 to 50, restoring secularism and religious freedom, and adding nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism as state principles. It also criminalized unconstitutional seizure of state power as treason and revised election timing provisions.

The writ petition challenging the amendment was filed by Badiul Alam Majumdar and others, later joined by political leaders and organizations. The petitioners’ lawyers argue that the entire amendment should be annulled.