A High Court Division Bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared that the country’s Election Commission has violated constitutional provision regarding holding general election within 90 days since the parliament had been dissolved. The High Court Bench comprising Justice Mohammad Abdur Rashid and Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam passed this verdict on 22 May 2008 after having heard a Public Interest Litigation lodged on 27 January 2008 by a Supreme Court lawyer, Mr. Masood Reza Sobhan. The local and international media published it in reports.
According to media reports the Court, in its verdict, said, “As per Article 123 (3) of the Constitution, the Election Commission is bound to hold the election within 90 days after parliament is dissolved. The constitutional provisions are self-executing, and the Commission has no right to avoid or violate those. – – – The Election Commission has no discretion to extend the time beyond 90 days. – – -” The Court also observed that “The development of democracy and establishment of the rule of law are being halted due to repeated violations of the Constitution. It said, “It cannot be conceived that the Commission would not hold the election and thereby an unelected caretaker government could continue to run the country.”
The verdict of the High Court Division Bench is amongst a lot of evidence on violation of constitutional provisions in Bangladesh’s history. It has rightly expressed its observation that “repeated violation of Constitution” halted the development of democracy and establishment of rule of law.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is aware that the Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh is a secretariat attached to the Office of the Prime Minister of the country. The EC is headed by a Chief Election Commissioner along with a number of Election Commissioners, and in the absence of any binding legal provisions, the number of commissioners is determined at the government’s pleasure. For example, from April 2001 there were two election commissioners were in the office for five years while the government appointed five Election Commissioners in 2006 excluding the Chief Election Commissioner. Ironically, the Election Commissioners taking oath before assuming their office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution have apparently violated the supreme law of the land as has been experienced over the years.
