In its judgment in the historic seventh amendment case, the Supreme Court blasted and overruled some of the apex court's earlier verdicts and observations on martial law in late 70s and 80s.
The judgment also termed "seditious" some of the observations of the judges in those past cases.
Martial law was first declared in the country on August 20, 1975. It was made effective from August 15, 1975 when the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family members, was assassinated.
A case known as "Halima Khatun vs Bangladesh" was one of the first lawsuits to reach the SC requiring interpretation of martial law and martial law regulations, after Halima filed a writ petition with the High Court.
The verdict in the case was delivered on January 4, 1978 when the country was under martial law.
The then SC judges held that martial law proclamation or a martial law regulation or a martial law order subordinated the country's constitution.
Referring to the judgment in Halima's case that said martial law proclamation, regulation and order subordinated the constitution, the SC verdict on the seventh amendment case says, "With great respect for the learned Judges of the Supreme Court of the day, it must be held that their Lordships were absolutely wrong."
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-261956
