Senior lawyer Sharif Bhuiyan today told the Supreme Court that the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, which introduced the non-party caretaker government system in 1996, is a basic structure of the charter and therefore cannot be scrapped.

Placing arguments before a seven-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, he said the abolition of the system following the 2011 verdict had led to incidents such as enforced disappearances, creation of "Aynaghor", extrajudicial killings, and questionable elections.

Bhuiyan argued on behalf of Badiul Alam Majumder and other citizens who filed one of the appeals. He said the then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque had declared the caretaker government "unconstitutional", but unelected advisers under political governments later wielded more influence than ministers.

The court today concluded the hearing and set tomorrow for resuming proceedings on the appeals and review petitions against its 2011 verdict.

The Appellate Division on August 27 allowed BNP and five citizens, including Badiul Alam Majumder, to move two separate appeals against the verdict. BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, five citizens, and freedom fighter Mofazzal Islam had lodged review petitions last year, arguing that the caretaker system was introduced through political consensus and had become part of the constitution's basic structure.

The review petitions were filed after the August 5, 2024, student-led uprising that ousted the Awami League government and led to the formation of the interim government under Professor Muhammad Yunus.

The 13th amendment was declared void on May 10, 2011, and the 15th amendment, passed on June 30, 2011, formally abolished the caretaker system.

Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman appeared for the state, while senior lawyers including Zainul Abedin, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Md Bodruddoza Badal, Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, and Kayser Kamal represented BNP, and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir stood for Jamaat-e-Islami.