In a significant verdict in 2010, the court overturned the fifth amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh made in 1979; and strengthened the secular democratic character of the Bangladeshi republic.
In that writ petition, the petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the Fifth Amendment Act 1979, which validated Martial Law Proclamation Orders between 1975 and 1979.
B. M. Khairul Haque and Justice A. T. M. Fazle Kabir declared the Fifth Amendment Act 1979 unlawful and directed the Government of Bangladesh to return the Moon Cinema Hall to its original owners.
[1] The verdict invalidated Proclamation Orders issued by the Chief Martial Law Administrator between 1975 and 1979, including the removal of secularism as a fundamental principle from the constitution.
The verdict overturned earlier judicial precedents in Bangladesh and Pakistan, in which the courts sought to support coups on the grounds of the doctrine of necessity.