Law Minister Anisul Huq on Saturday said that the government has brought back many things from the Constitution of 1972 through the 15th amendment and is now working to bring back the original constitution.
"Through the 15th amendment, we brought back much of the original Constitution of 1972. We tried to bring more things back through the 16th amendment, which is now a sub judice matter. We are thinking about it since we want to bring back the original Constitution of 1972," he said.
The law minister added, "The party (Awami League) and the government will decide when and how it will be done."
Anisul made the remarks while replying to a question from journalists after attending a seminar marking the Bangladesh Constitution Day, organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) in the capital's Dhanmondi area, said a press release.
BILIA Chairperson Barrister Amir-Ul Islam presided over the seminar, while Justice (retd) AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) former chairman Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman and Dhaka University Professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman spoke at the event, among others.
Responding to another question regarding the non-implementation of Article 96(2) of the Constitution or the 16th amendment, the law minister said a review petition is pending in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in this regard.
Hopefully, the hearing of this review petition will be completed within a few days, the law minister said, adding, "We will act according to the Supreme Court's verdict in this regard".
Speaking about the relevancy of keeping Article 70 of the Constitution intact, he said that a partisan lawmaker takes part in elections to implement a manifesto of a specific political party.
Therefore, if the ruling party moves any bill in parliament to implement its manifesto and treasury bench lawmaker casts vote against the bill, it ultimately goes against the mandate, which he or she made during the election campaign, Anisul said.
But an independent candidate can cast vote as per his or her wish, he added.
