Article 58E Advice rules switched off during the caretaker period
Certain provisions of the Constitution to remain ineffective
It shifts significant power to the President during elections, which affects who can declare an emergency or deploy state power at the most sensitive moment in the political cycle.
Omitted by section 21 of the Fifteenth Amendment 2011. Revived by the Appellate Division on 20 November 2025 (Thirteenth Amendment review) to operate only prospectively, and the High Court Division's 17 December 2024 ruling voiding section 21 was upheld on 9 July 2026, as reported. bdlaws still shows the chapter as omitted. The marginal heading is not reproduced reliably in the published judgment, so it is omitted from the text below.
In ordinary times the President acts on the Prime Minister's advice under Article 48(3). A proclamation of emergency under Article 141A(1), or an order suspending the enforcement of rights under Article 141C(1), also requires the Prime Minister's prior countersignature.
Once the Non-Party Care-taker Government is functioning, there is no Prime Minister in office to give advice or countersign. Article 58E makes the advice and countersignature requirements ineffective for as long as the caretaker government continues to function.
During that period the President can exercise powers that would otherwise need the Prime Minister's advice, including emergency powers. The President's decisions are no longer filtered through an elected head of government, which is why this clause has drawn close scrutiny.
In plain English
How Article 58E works
Article 58E deals with the President's role while a caretaker government is in office. Normally the President must act on the Prime Minister's advice, and an emergency proclamation or an order suspending the enforcement of rights also needs the Prime Minister's prior countersignature. During the caretaker period there is no Prime Minister. Article 58E therefore says that provisions requiring the President to act on the Prime Minister's advice, or with the Prime Minister's prior countersignature, are ineffective while the caretaker government functions. It opens with a reference to Articles 48(3), 141A(1) and 141C(1).
In practice
Article 58E mattered most in January 2007, when a state of emergency was proclaimed during a caretaker period with no Prime Minister in office, and a caretaker administration then governed until the December 2008 election. Its wording is unusual: it opens with a non obstante reference to Articles 48(3), 141A(1) and 141C(1). With the chapter revived on 20 November 2025 and the abolition voided on appeal on 9 July 2026, as reported, Article 58E will apply in the first caretaker period after the current Parliament is dissolved.
The text
What Article 58E says
58E. ...―Notwithstanding anything contained in articles 48(3), 141A(1) and 141C(1) of the Constitution, during the period the Non-Party Care-taker Government is functioning, provisions in the Constitution requiring the President to act on the advice of the Prime Minister or upon his prior counter-signature shall be ineffective.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
Landmark cases
How the courts have read it
Appellate Division · 2025
Dr Badiul Alam Mojumder and others v Abdul Mannan Khan and others (Civil Appeal Nos. 112 and 113 of 2025)
On 20 November 2025 a unanimous seven-member bench set aside the 2011 judgment and held that Chapter IIA (Articles 58B to 58E) stood revived, operating only prospectively: the caretaker system can first be triggered when the Parliament elected after the impending general election is dissolved.
High Court Division · 2024
Fifteenth Amendment case
On 17 December 2024 a bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury declared sections 20 and 21 of the Fifteenth Amendment Act 2011, which abolished the caretaker system, void as destroying the basic structure, and left remaining issues to Parliament. The Appellate Division dismissed the appeals on 9 July 2026, as reported.
Case summaries are short descriptions for orientation, not a substitute for the judgment.
History
Amendments
- Thirteenth Amendment 1996Inserted Chapter IIA, Articles 58B to 58E (section 3 of Act I of 1996).
- Fifteenth Amendment 2011Omitted Chapter IIA (section 21 of Act XIV of 2011). Section 21 was declared void by the High Court Division on 17 December 2024, upheld on appeal on 9 July 2026, as reported.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 58E: frequently asked questions
What does Article 58E of the Constitution of Bangladesh say?
It says that while a Non-Party Care-taker Government is functioning, provisions requiring the President to act on the Prime Minister's advice, or with the Prime Minister's prior countersignature, are ineffective. It opens with the words notwithstanding anything contained in Articles 48(3), 141A(1) and 141C(1).
Can the President declare an emergency during a caretaker government?
With no Prime Minister in office, the countersignature requirement in Article 141A cannot operate normally, and Article 58E makes advice and countersignature requirements ineffective during the caretaker period. An emergency was proclaimed in this situation in January 2007. Readings of 58E's exact reach have differed.
Sources
- Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Article 58E (Laws of Bangladesh)
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division: Civil Appeal Nos. 112 and 113 of 2025 (judgment of 20 November 2025; full text March 2026)
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division: Thirteenth Amendment judgment (Civil Appeal No. 139 of 2005)
- Prothom Alo English: Caretaker govt reinstated as some provisions scrapped (17 December 2024)
- Prothom Alo English: SC verdict upholds reinstatement of caretaker govt and referendum provisions (9 July 2026)
- The Daily Star: Caretaker government reborn: What challenges lie ahead?
- Prothom Alo English: Next parliamentary election under caretaker govt: Law Minister (9 July 2026)
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
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