Seventh Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1986
The High Court Division declared the Act void on 26 August 2010 and the Appellate Division upheld that ruling on 15 May 2011. Paragraph 19 of the Fourth Schedule was then omitted by the Fifteenth Amendment of 2011.
On 24 March 1982 the Army Chief proclaimed martial law, suspended the Constitution and took full powers as Chief Martial Law Administrator. Martial law regulations set up special courts that tried ordinary criminal cases as well as martial law offences.
After the 1986 parliamentary election, the Third Parliament passed the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Bill in November 1986, as martial law was being withdrawn and the Constitution fully revived. The Act was numbered Act I of 1986.
Section 3 inserted paragraph 19 into the Fourth Schedule. It ratified and confirmed the 1982 proclamation and all martial law instruments made up to the Act's commencement, and declared that no court could question them on any ground.
Section 2 changed Article 96 so that Supreme Court judges retired at 65 instead of 62. That change was not part of the later challenge, and the retirement age has since been raised again, to 67 years in the present text.
In 2010 Siddique Ahmed, convicted in absentia by a special martial law court in 1986, challenged section 3. On 26 August 2010 the High Court Division declared the Seventh Amendment void ab initio and held that paragraph 19 must go.
On 15 May 2011 a six-judge Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque upheld the ruling. Past and closed acts of the period were condoned, but martial law itself was held illegal. The Fifteenth Amendment then omitted paragraph 19.
In plain English
Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1986
The Seventh Amendment did two things. Section 2 raised the retirement age of Supreme Court judges in Article 96 from 62 to 65. Section 3 inserted paragraph 19 into the Fourth Schedule, which ratified and confirmed the martial law proclamation of 24 March 1982 and every martial law regulation, order and instrument made until the Act came into force, and barred any court from questioning them.
It matters because it was the legal shield for the martial law period of 1982 to 1986, and because the Supreme Court's decision to strike it down in 2010 and 2011 confirmed that Parliament cannot validate the seizure of power outside the Constitution.
Background
On 24 March 1982 Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, then Chief of Army Staff, proclaimed martial law, suspended the Constitution and assumed full powers as Chief Martial Law Administrator. Martial law courts tried offences under both martial law and ordinary law. A parliamentary election was held in May 1986 and the Third Parliament was constituted, followed by a presidential election in October 1986.
Before the Constitution was fully revived and martial law withdrawn in November 1986, Parliament passed the Seventh Amendment to give constitutional cover to everything done under martial law. The approach followed the Fifth Amendment of 1979, which had ratified the earlier martial law period of 1975 to 1979.
What changed
What the Seventh Amendment changed, article by article
Article 96
Seventh Amendmenta Judge shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-two years.
a Judge shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years.
Section 2. The word "sixty-five" was substituted for "sixty-two". The present text says sixty-seven, after later amendments.
Fourth Schedule
Seventh AmendmentParagraph 19, "Ratification and confirmation of the Proclamation of the 24th March, 1982, etc.": the Proclamation and all martial law instruments made between 24 March 1982 and the commencement of the Act were ratified, confirmed and declared validly made, and were not to be called in question in any court.
Section 3. Declared void in 2010 and 2011; paragraphs 18 to 23 were omitted by the Fifteenth Amendment in 2011.
What happened next
What happened to the Seventh Amendment next
Siddique Ahmed filed Writ Petition No. 696 of 2010 against his 1986 conviction by a special martial law court. On 26 August 2010 Justices A.H.M. Shamsuddin Choudhury and Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain declared the Seventh Amendment illegal and void ab initio, but left his conviction in place because a properly constituted sessions court had originally taken cognisance. The Appellate Division heard Civil Appeal No.
48 of 2011 on certificate and gave judgment on 15 May 2011, holding the 1982 proclamation and the martial law instruments up to 10 November 1986 void, while condoning past and closed transactions. The full text was released in December 2012. The Fifteenth Amendment of 2011 omitted paragraphs 18 to 23 of the Fourth Schedule.
Timeline
- Martial law proclaimed and the Constitution suspended
- Seventh Amendment passed by the Third Parliament, as reported
- High Court Division declares the Seventh Amendment void
- Appellate Division upholds the ruling in Civil Appeal No. 48 of 2011
- Fifteenth Amendment omits paragraphs 18 to 23 of the Fourth Schedule
- Full Appellate Division judgment released, as reported
Landmark cases
How the courts have read the Seventh Amendment
High Court Division · 2010
Siddique Ahmed v Bangladesh (Writ Petition No. 696 of 2010)
On 26 August 2010 declared the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1986 illegal, without lawful authority and void ab initio, and held that paragraph 19 of the Fourth Schedule must be deleted.
Appellate Division · 2011
Siddique Ahmed v Government of Bangladesh (Civil Appeal No. 48 of 2011)
On 15 May 2011 upheld the High Court ruling that the martial law of 24 March 1982 to 10 November 1986 and the Seventh Amendment's ratification of it were void, with past and closed acts condoned, and held that paragraph 19 ceased to exist.
Questions
Seventh Amendment: frequently asked questions
What did the Seventh Amendment do?
It raised the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 62 to 65 and inserted paragraph 19 into the Fourth Schedule. Paragraph 19 ratified the martial law proclamation of 24 March 1982 and every martial law instrument made until the Act came into force, and barred the courts from questioning them.
Is the Seventh Amendment still valid?
No. The High Court Division declared it void on 26 August 2010, and the Appellate Division upheld that decision on 15 May 2011. Paragraph 19 was then omitted from the Fourth Schedule by the Fifteenth Amendment of 2011, so the official text no longer contains it.
Did the judgment undo everything done under martial law?
No. The Appellate Division held the martial law and its instruments illegal, but condoned past and closed acts of the period on the principle that the welfare of the people is the supreme law. It warned that no such indulgence should be expected in future.
Sources
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh: Siddique Ahmed v Government of Bangladesh, Civil Appeal No. 48 of 2011 (judgment of 15 May 2011, extract)
- High Court Division judgment in Writ Petition No. 696 of 2010 (full text, The Daily Star)
- The Daily Star: Martial law stays illegal for good (Seventh Amendment full verdict)
- Archived English text of the Constitution with pre-2004 footnotes, Part VI (RESDAL copy)
- Laws of Bangladesh (bdlaws): Constitution, Schedules (footnote on paragraphs 18 to 23)
- Banglapedia: Constitutional Amendments
- The Daily Star Law and Our Rights (3 April 2004): summary of 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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