Abstract

In the context of boycott or walkout of the Members of Parliament, the then Hon’ble President of Bangladesh sent a Reference to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh under Article 106 of the Constitution. The Hon’ble President formulated four specific questions and requested answer from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The Court after hearing amici curie exercising advisory jurisdiction concluded that the words walkout and boycott both entail absence under Article 67(1)(b) of the Constitution and in computing the period of ninety consecutive sitting days, the period between two sessions should be excluded and the Speaker of the Parliament will compute and determine the period. However, the then Election Commission did not take appropriate legal measures before next general parliamentary election. Since, this is a first case of its kind, our Apex Court extensively discussed the nature and scope of the advisory jurisdiction under Article 106 of the Constitution and maintainability of the reference.