Review plea filing unlikely before end of this month: AG

The review petition of the Supreme Court verdict that scrapped the 16th amendment of the constitution is unlikely to be filed before the end of this month.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said this to The Daily Star yesterday, adding that his office has so far completed 25 percent of the petition. 

The government received the certified copy of the verdict on October 10 and according to the SC rules, a review petition has to be filed within 30 days upon receipt. Hence, the deadline for filing the review petition expires today.

The 16th amendment had empowered the parliament to remove Supreme Court judges for incapacity or misconduct.

“... We are studying and examining the verdict and relevant points of the constitution and laws for preparing the grounds on which the Supreme Court may consider the review petition,” the AG also said.

His office is doing the due diligence in preparing the grounds of the review petition since the issue (16th amendment) is of serious nature, he said responding to a query.

They will explain the reason for the delay in filing of the review petition to the SC, he also said.

In the full verdict released on August 1, the apex court said the provision of Supreme Judicial Council for the removal of SC judges for misconduct or incapacity has been reinstated in the constitution.

In October, an 11-member committee, led by the attorney general, was formed for filing the review petition.