The High Court has named seven senior lawyers as amicus curiae (legal advisers to the court) to give their opinions in a rule hearing over a constitutional provision under which the Speaker, not the Chief Justice, administers oath of office to the President.
Setting 26 October as the next date for hearing, the bench of Justice Shashanka Shekhar Sarkar and Justice K M Zahid Sarwar also announced the names of seven amicus curiae on Thursday and fixed the date.
Lawyers Zainul Abedin, Probir Neogi, A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Shahdeen Malik, Ahsanul Karim, Mustafizur Rahman Khan and Jyotirmoy Barua have been named as amicus curiae.
The petition was filed on 10 March by lyricist and constitutional analyst Shahidullah Farazi to direct the government to take all steps to reinstate the provision of the original Constitution of 1972 under which the oath of office was administered to the President by the Chief Justice.
Issuing a rule on 11 March after a preliminary hearing, the High Court asked why the provision of the Fifteenth Amendment under which the Speaker administers the oath should not be declared inconsistent with the original Constitution of 1972 and why that part of the amendment should not be struck down with retrospective effect.
The rule was issued to Law Secretary, Cabinet Secretary and Registrar General of the Supreme Court to show cause why they should not do so.
The rule has been admitted for hearing. It was listed as item number 25 on the court’s cause list on Thursday.
Senior lawyer Omar Faruk appeared for the petitioner and Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Mehedi Hasan appeared for the state.
Omar Faruk told newsmen: “Partial hearing on the rule has already been taken up. The arguments of the petitioner are almost at the concluding stage. Today the court appointed seven leading lawyers as amicus curiae to give their opinions. The next hearing date has been fixed for 26 October.”
