Thirteenth Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1996
Declared prospectively void by the Appellate Division on 10 May 2011, and its caretaker articles were omitted by the Fifteenth Amendment that year. On 20 November 2025 the Appellate Division set aside the 2011 judgment and revived Chapter IIA, to apply from the 14th parliamentary election.
From 1994 opposition parties campaigned for elections under a neutral government, arguing that a sitting government could influence the result. The campaign included resignations from Parliament, strikes and street protests, and the main parties boycotted the general election of February 1996.
The short-lived Sixth Parliament passed the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Bill in March 1996. The President assented on 28 March 1996 and the Act, numbered Act I of 1996, was gazetted the same day.
Article 58A and Chapter IIA set up a Non-Party Care-taker Government of a Chief Adviser and up to ten Advisers. It takes office after Parliament is dissolved, carries on only routine business and helps the Election Commission hold the election.
Caretaker governments under the amendment oversaw the general elections of June 1996, October 2001 and December 2008. Article 123(3) was changed so that the election had to be held within ninety days after Parliament was dissolved.
On 10 May 2011 the Appellate Division, by majority, declared the amendment prospectively void as contrary to democracy and the basic structure. The Fifteenth Amendment of 2011 then omitted Article 58A and Chapter IIA from the Constitution.
On 20 November 2025 a seven-member Appellate Division bench set aside the 2011 judgment and revived Chapter IIA, to apply from the 14th parliamentary election. On 9 July 2026 the Appellate Division also upheld the voiding of the 2011 abolition, as reported.
In plain English
Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1996
The Thirteenth Amendment created the Non-Party Care-taker Government. When Parliament was dissolved, power passed for up to ninety days to a non-party administration led by a Chief Adviser, normally the most recently retired Chief Justice, whose main task was to help the Election Commission hold a free and fair general election. It inserted Article 58A and Chapter IIA (Articles 58B to 58E), gave the President command of the defence services during that period, and adjusted Articles 99, 123, 147 and 152 and the Third Schedule.
Caretaker governments oversaw the elections of 1996, 2001 and 2008. The scheme was struck down in 2011 and revived by the Appellate Division in 2025.
Background
After a disputed by-election in Magura in 1994, opposition parties demanded that general elections be held under a neutral, non-party government rather than under the sitting government. They resigned from Parliament and led a sustained movement of strikes and protests. The general election of 15 February 1996 was boycotted by the main opposition parties. The Sixth Parliament that it returned met briefly and passed the Thirteenth Amendment in March 1996 to put a caretaker system into the Constitution.
Parliament was then dissolved, and a fresh general election was held in June 1996 under the first constitutional caretaker government.
What changed
What the Thirteenth Amendment changed, article by article
Article 58A
Thirteenth AmendmentNothing in this Chapter, except the provisions of article 55(4), (5) and (6), shall apply during the period in which Parliament is dissolved or stands dissolved (with a proviso for a dissolved Parliament summoned under article 72(4)).
Section 2. Omitted in 2011 by section 20 of the Fifteenth Amendment; that section was declared void in 2024.
Article 58B
Thirteenth AmendmentThere shall be a Non-Party Care-taker Government from the date the Chief Adviser enters office after Parliament is dissolved until a new Prime Minister enters office; it is collectively responsible to the President.
Section 3 inserted Chapter IIA (Articles 58B to 58E).
Article 58C
Thirteenth AmendmentThe government consists of a Chief Adviser and not more than ten Advisers, appointed within fifteen days of dissolution. The Chief Adviser is the last retired Chief Justice, then earlier ones, then retired Appellate Division judges, then a citizen chosen after consulting the major parties, failing which the President.
Section 3.
Article 58D
Thirteenth AmendmentThe caretaker government acts as an interim government carrying on routine functions, makes no policy decision except where necessary, and gives the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance.
Section 3.
Article 58E
Thirteenth AmendmentNotwithstanding articles 48(3), 141A(1) and 141C(1), while the caretaker government is functioning, provisions requiring the President to act on the Prime Minister's advice or prior counter-signature are ineffective.
Section 3.
Article 61
Thirteenth AmendmentThe supreme command of the defence services of Bangladesh shall vest in the President and the exercise thereof shall be regulated by law.
Added: and such law shall, during the period in which there is a Non-party Care-taker government under article 58B, be administered by the President.
Section 4. Article 61 was substituted in 2011 by section 22 of the Fifteenth Amendment, which was not reported as voided.
Article 99
Thirteenth AmendmentInserted in clause (1), after "quasi-judicial office", the words "or the office of Chief Adviser or Adviser", so retired judges could serve in the caretaker government.
Section 5.
Article 123
Thirteenth AmendmentA general election shall be held, on dissolution by expiry of term, within ninety days preceding the dissolution; and on any other dissolution, within ninety days after it.
A general election of members of Parliament shall be held within ninety days after Parliament is dissolved, whether by reason of the expiration of its term or otherwise.
Section 6 substituted clause (3). Clause (3) was substituted again in 2011 by section 37 of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Article 147
Thirteenth AmendmentSubstituted sub-clauses (b) and (d) of clause (4) so that the protections for remuneration and terms of office cover the Chief Adviser and Advisers; sub-clause (d) read "Minister, Adviser, Minister of State or Deputy Minister".
Section 7.
Article 152
Thirteenth AmendmentInserted in clause (1) definitions of "Adviser" and "Chief Adviser" as persons appointed to those offices under article 58C.
Section 8.
Third Schedule
Thirteenth AmendmentAdded forms of oath of office and of secrecy for the Chief Adviser and the Advisers.
Section 9, as described in the 2011 judgment, which does not quote it.
What happened next
What happened to the Thirteenth Amendment next
M Saleem Ullah, an advocate, challenged the amendment in 1999. A Special Bench of the High Court Division upheld it on 4 August 2004 and certified an appeal. On 10 May 2011 the Appellate Division, by majority, declared it prospectively void, while saying the next two elections might be held under it. The Fifteenth Amendment of 2011 then omitted Article 58A and Chapter IIA.
On 17 December 2024 the High Court Division declared that omission void, and on 20 November 2025 the Appellate Division set aside its 2011 judgment on review and revived Chapter IIA prospectively. Appeals against the 2024 ruling were dismissed on 9 July 2026, as reported. The other 1996 changes, to Articles 61, 99, 123, 147 and 152, were later replaced by 2011 provisions that were not reported as voided. bdlaws still shows the chapter as omitted.
Timeline
- General election boycotted by the main opposition parties
- Bill passed by the Sixth Parliament, as reported (the 2011 judgment gives 25 March)
- Presidential assent and publication in the Gazette
- First general election under a caretaker government
- High Court Division Special Bench upholds the amendment
- Appellate Division declares the amendment prospectively void, by majority
- Fifteenth Amendment passed, omitting Article 58A and Chapter IIA
- High Court Division declares the 2011 omission void
- Appellate Division sets aside the 2011 judgment and revives Chapter IIA
- Appellate Division dismisses appeals against the 2024 ruling, as reported
Landmark cases
How the courts have read the Thirteenth Amendment
High Court Division · 2004
M Saleem Ullah v Bangladesh (Writ Petition No. 4112 of 1999)
On 4 August 2004 a Special Bench upheld the Thirteenth Amendment and certified the case for appeal under Article 103(2)(a).
Appellate Division · 2011
Abdul Mannan Khan v Government of Bangladesh (Thirteenth Amendment case), Civil Appeal No. 139 of 2005
64 DLR (AD) 169
By majority, on 10 May 2011, declared the Thirteenth Amendment prospectively void and ultra vires, while saying the Tenth and Eleventh Parliament elections might be held under it on the principle of necessity.
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 led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed set aside the 2011 judgment and revived Chapter IIA, to operate only prospectively, from the 14th parliamentary election.
High Court Division · 2024
Fifteenth Amendment case (writ petitions of Badiul Alam Majumdar and others, and Md Mofazzal Hossain)
On 17 December 2024 Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury declared void sections 20 and 21 (caretaker abolition), the provision removing the referendum requirement from Article 142, and Articles 7A, 7B and 44(2), leaving the remaining issues to Parliament.
Appellate Division · 2026
Appeals against the Fifteenth Amendment judgment
On 9 July 2026 a four-member bench led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury dismissed the three appeals, so the High Court Division's judgment stands, as reported. The full judgment had not been published by late July 2026.
Questions
Thirteenth Amendment: frequently asked questions
What did the Thirteenth Amendment do?
It added a Non-Party Care-taker Government to the Constitution. After Parliament is dissolved, a Chief Adviser and up to ten Advisers run routine government business and help the Election Commission hold the general election within ninety days, after which a new Prime Minister takes office.
Is the Thirteenth Amendment in force now?
Its caretaker chapter has been revived by judgment. On 20 November 2025 the Appellate Division set aside its 2011 ruling and held that Chapter IIA stands revived, but only prospectively, from the 14th parliamentary election. The official bdlaws text has not yet been updated.
Why was the Thirteenth Amendment struck down in 2011?
The majority of the Appellate Division held that an unelected caretaker government, even for a short period, was contrary to democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution. It declared the Act prospectively void and said the next two elections might still be held under it.
Sources
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division: Thirteenth Amendment judgment, Civil Appeal No. 139 of 2005 (reproduces Act I of 1996)
- Laws of Bangladesh: Constitution, Article 58A (omitted)
- Laws of Bangladesh: Constitution, Chapter IIA (omitted)
- Laws of Bangladesh: Constitution, Article 61
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division: Civil Appeal Nos. 112 and 113 of 2025 (judgment of 20 November 2025; full text March 2026)
- The Financial Express: Apex court reinstates caretaker govt system, upholds 13th amendment (20 November 2025)
- Dhaka Tribune: Caretaker government system reinstated (20 November 2025)
- 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)
- Banglapedia: Constitutional Amendments
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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