Staff Correspondent:

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed has said prioritising July Charter over the constitution would set a “bad precedent” for the country.

Speaking to journalists at his Gulshan residence on Tuesday (August 19), Salahuddin said, “It has been stated here that everything in the July Charter will take precedence over the constitution, and even if there are legal inconsistencies, the provisions, proposals, and recommendations of this charter will prevail. That means it stands above the constitution.”

“Can any agreement document become a supra-constitutional instrument? It cannot. We must think about how this document can be implemented within constitutional and legal processes. If it is said that everything in this charter will take precedence over the constitution, then this will set a bad precedent for the future. This should not be done,” he added.

He further said, “It is mentioned that the authority to finally interpret the provisions of this charter will rest with the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. Can such authority be vested in the Appellate Division? Any case verdict can be appealed to the Appellate Division from the High Court Division. Besides, under Article 103, certain constitutional issues also go to the Appellate Division. But the July Charter is neither self-audience, nor law, nor verdict. Who will send it to the Appellate Division for interpretation? On what basis will it go there? These questions must be decided first.”

Salahuddin raised concerns over the provision that the legality of the July Charter cannot be challenged in court.

“The authority to prevent raising questions in court, has our constitution given that to anyone? I think this was not properly articulated. It might have been written differently. Anyone can raise questions in court,” he said.

“According to Article 31, every citizen has the right to seek recourse in law. Mentioning that no one can question it in court is not correct. We have to sign the national July Charter. All promises made on the basis of national consensus must be implemented. Through reforms, the state must be transformed into a strong democratic state. This is the nation’s expectation, and we must implement our commitments. Therefore, I believe we must all sit together to establish a legal and constitutional process for it,” he added.