Fifth Amendment to Constitution
Contempt of court plea filed against six govt high-ups
A contempt of court petition has been filed with the Supreme Court against six high government officials for not executing a part of its historic verdict on the fifth amendment to the constitution in one year and eight months after delivery of the verdict.
Maqsudul Alam, managing director of Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Ltd (BIMWL), filed the contempt of court petition on Tuesday saying that the officials have not taken any step to hand over the ownership of the then Moon Cinema Hall to the company although the apex court had directed for doing so.
Delivering a verdict on the case against the constitution's fifth amendment, the SC on May 11, 2011 directed the authorities concerned of government to return the possession of properties of the cinema on 1 Waizghat Road in the capital to BIMWL in three months.
Earlier on February 2, 2010 the apex court in another verdict had upheld the High Court verdict that declared the fifth amendment illegal which meant that the governments between August, 1975, and April 9, 1979, were in power without lawful authority. Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem and Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman led the regimes adjudged unlawful.
The HC had delivered the verdict on August 29, 2005 following a writ petition filed by Maqsudul Alam on behalf of BIMWL challenging the Martial Law Regulation (MLR) 7 of 1977, issued to legalise all illegal acts of the martial law government including acquiring the land of the Moon Cinema Hall prior to that time.
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