Article 58D What the caretaker government may and may not do
Functions of Non-Party Care-taker Government
The policy freeze protects voters and investors from major decisions taken by an unelected government, while the duty to assist the Election Commission underpins the credibility of the election result.
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.
Once in office, the caretaker government discharges its functions as an interim government. Its mandate is limited in time and scope: it holds office only until a new Prime Minister takes office after the election.
Day-to-day administration continues through persons in the services of the Republic. Salaries are paid, services delivered and laws enforced, but the caretaker government avoids policy decisions except where they are necessary for carrying on its routine functions.
The caretaker government must give the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance needed for a peaceful, fair and impartial general election, including administrative support, security arrangements and full cooperation from field officials and law enforcement agencies.
In plain English
How Article 58D works
Article 58D limits what the caretaker government can do. It is an interim government: it keeps routine government business running with the help of the civil service, and it must not make policy decisions unless they are necessary to carry out those routine functions. Its other main duty is to give the Election Commission all the help it needs to hold the general election peacefully, fairly and impartially. In short, the caretaker government is a temporary manager, not a new government with its own agenda; its job is to hold the ring while voters choose the next Parliament.
In practice
The limits in clause (1) were tested in 2007 to 2008, when a caretaker administration remained in office for around two years during a state of emergency, well beyond the ninety-day election timetable, and took wide-ranging decisions. That experience shaped the 2011 debate on the system. In its full judgment, published in March 2026, the Appellate Division described the caretaker system as a temporary safeguard for democracy, and it applies the Chief Adviser appointment sequence in Article 58C as enacted in 1996, which Parliament may still amend under Article 142. Article 58D(1) itself confines the caretaker government to routine functions. The chapter can first be used when the Parliament elected in February 2026 is dissolved.
The text
What Article 58D says
58D. Functions of Non-Party Care-taker Government.―(1) The Non-Party Care-taker Government shall discharge its functions as an interim government and shall carry on the routine functions of such government with the aid and assistance of persons in the services of the Republic; and, except in the case of necessity for the discharge of such functions it shall not make any policy decision.
(2) The Non-Party Care-taker Government shall give to the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance that may be required for holding the general election of members of Parliament peacefully, fairly and impartially.
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 58D: frequently asked questions
Can a caretaker government make policy decisions?
Only where necessary. Article 58D(1) says the caretaker government carries on routine functions and, except in case of necessity for discharging those functions, shall not make any policy decision. Major new policies are left to the elected government that follows.
What is the main duty of the caretaker government?
Under Article 58D(2), it must give the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance needed to hold the general election of members of Parliament peacefully, fairly and impartially. Running routine government business is its other function.
Sources
- Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Article 58D (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)
- The Business Standard: Caretaker system a temporary safeguard for democracy, observes SC in full verdict (15 March 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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