DHAKA: After an exclusive parley Sunday on the changes in country’s basic laws, the parliamentary special committee for constitutional amendment decided to take experts’ opinions for rewriting the Constitution.

Opinions will be elicited from the country’s legal and constitutional experts in the next meeting the committee scheduled for September 23 at 11am.

“The meeting (Sunday) discussed how the High Court and Supreme Court directives can be incorporated in the Constitution,” co-chairman of the special committee and ruling-party leader Suranjit Sengupta told reporters at the media center of parliament after the meeting.

The decision came from the 4th meeting of the special committee in the cabinet room of parliament with its chairman Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury in the chair.

Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed and Law Commission Chairman Justice Abdur Rashid attended Sunday’s committee meeting on invitation.

As per the decision, opinions will be taken from those who earlier had given their opinions in amending ordinances during the past caretaker government’s rule.

Competent sources told banglanews that Dr Kamal Hossain, Dr. M Zahir, Barrister Rafiqul Haque, Barrister Amirul Islam, Advocate Taufiq Newaz and Mahmudul Islam are among a dozen eminent jurists to be invited to the next meeting for placing their views about comprehensive changes in the much-mutilated basic law book of the land.       

The committee was formed on July 21, consisting of only the ruling Awami League-led grand-alliance lawmakers, as BNP declined to nominate their representative following an invitation from the ruling party.

The panel was assigned to the task of working out constitutional changes in the light of the Supreme Court verdict annulling the Fifth Amendment which had ratified the doings of martial law regimes since the August 15, 1975 coup and brought major changes in the fundamental state principles.

Later on, the Seventh Amendment was also struck down by the High Court, declaring all extra-constitutional takeovers illegal.    

BDST: 1605 HRS. SEP 19, 2010