President Md. Sahabuddin on the 'resignation letter' issue of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Pressure is mounting on the interim government to remove. Discussions are going on as to what will be the procedure for his removal. The agitators say that the President has broken his oath, he has no right to hold this position. Discussions are going on everywhere whether the President will resign on his own in the face of the agitation or the government will take the initiative to remove him.

The current constitution does not specifically say anything about the resignation of the President. Article 54 of the Constitution states that if the office of the President becomes vacant or if the President is unable to perform his duties due to absence, illness or any other reason, the Speaker shall perform the duties of the President until the President is elected or the President resumes his duties as the case may be. Article 53 of the Constitution allows the President to be removed 'due to physical or mental incapacity'. However, in that case the Parliament will remove him.

Some legal experts say that now that there is no parliament, the president has no chance to impeach or remove the president in accordance with the constitution. In this case, the interim government may seek the opinion of the Supreme Court.

However, if the President resigns voluntarily or involuntarily, according to Article 54 of the Constitution, the Speaker will perform the duties of the President.

But the speaker of the last parliament has already resigned. So what happens now? In this regard, some of the lawyers say that if the President resigns in view of the demands of the students, he will send the resignation letter according to the 'Doctrine of Necessity', and the Chief Adviser will accept it.

When asked, the Supreme Court's senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim said that the President can be removed due to physical or mental incapacity as per Article 53 of the Constitution. But for that, Parliament will be needed. And if the president is accused of violation of the constitution or misconduct then the parliament can impeach him according to article 52 of the constitution. That would require a written complaint and proposal from a majority of the parliament. Since there is no parliament now, there is no way to remove or impeach the president.

Regarding the resignation, the lawyer said, if the President resigns voluntarily or involuntarily, the Speaker will perform the duties of the President according to Article 54 of the Constitution. It doesn't matter who he resigns from. The big thing is that with the resignation of the President, the power will go to the Speaker.

The Speaker has also resigned, facing criminal charges. If the president resigns in such a situation, who will be responsible? In this regard, lawyer Ahsanul Karim said, even if the Speaker or Deputy Speaker resigns, according to Article 74(6) of the Constitution, they (resigning Speaker or Deputy Speaker) will be considered to be in office until someone new takes over as Speaker or Deputy Speaker. As a result, even if there is no parliament, even if there is no member of parliament, they have to perform the duties of speaker or deputy speaker.

Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, said, "We have seen the President leave behind the heads of the three forces and say that the former Prime Minister has resigned and he has accepted it. Later we saw the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking an opinion on the administration of oath to the advisers of the Interim Government under Article 106 of the Constitution. Appellate Division judges, including the former Chief Justice, gave positive advice. After the politics of Bangladesh has gone so far, now he is saying that he does not have the resignation letter of the former prime minister. After his speech, many reactions have started in different parts of the country.

Barrister Kajol said that the post-coup interim government was formed based on the opinion of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court as per Article 106 of the Constitution. After the formation of the Interim Government, the President promulgated the Interim Government Ordinance. The important thing is not to whom the president resigns, the important thing is that he can resign. There is no need to address anyone for this resignation at the moment. The talk is - when there was nothing (Prime Minister, Cabinet, Parliament) but an interim government was formed. This is the Doctrine of Necessity. I think the interim government can also take decisions based on reality and political consensus. Which happened after the fall of Ershad in 1991.

Asked if the chief adviser of the interim government can perform the duties of the president if the president resigns, the former leader of the Supreme Court Bar Association said, "I am forced to say that the constitution is suspended during a state of emergency." In the current situation, the constitution has not been suspended. It will not be wrong to say that the state is being run closely to the constitution. The government has already constituted the Constitution Reform Commission. Again the Supreme Court is running according to the existing constitution. Such a legal framework (with Chief Adviser and concurrently acting as President) can be created as the time demands. But it should be based on the consensus of active political parties.

The lawyer also said that any qualified person can be made president based on the consensus of political parties. As after the fall of Ershad, Justice Shahabuddin Ahmad was made the interim president. Later the elected government gave constitutional legitimacy to that government.

What does the constitution say?

Article 52 (1) of the Constitution states on the impeachment of the President - 'The President may be impeached for violation of this Constitution or for serious misconduct; For this, notice of a motion should be given to the Speaker, under the signatures of a majority of the total members of the Parliament, recording the particulars of such complaint; The motion shall not be discussed before fourteen days or after thirty days from the date of giving such notice to the Speaker; And if the Parliament is not in session, the Speaker shall immediately convene the Parliament.'

Article 53 (1) of the Constitution on the removal of the President due to incapacity states - 'The President may be removed from office due to physical or mental incapacity; For this, a notice of proposal should be given to the Speaker by recording the details of the alleged incapacity under the signature of the majority of the total members of the Parliament.

Sub-section (2) of this section provides that— If the Parliament is not in session, the Speaker shall, on receipt of notice, call the Parliament into session and propose the constitution of a Medical Council (hereinafter referred to as "the Council") and the Speaker shall forthwith, after the necessary motions have been proposed and passed, arrange for a copy of the notice to be sent to the President and with it a signed request that the President appear before the Council for examination within ten days from the date of such request.'

And in Article 54 of the Constitution, it is said - 'If the position of the President becomes vacant or if the President is unable to perform his duties due to absence, illness or any other reason, the Speaker shall perform the duties of the President until the President is elected or the President resumes his duties.'

Article 74(6) of the Constitution regarding the Speaker and Deputy Speaker states- 'Despite the provisions of Clause (2) of this Article, the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have continued in office until his successor assumes office.

The statement around which the president's resignation is demanded

President Md. Sahabuddin said in a special interview to Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, editor-in-chief of Manabzamin newspaper, that he had heard that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned, but he did not have any documentary evidence or documents in this regard.

The interview was published on October 19 in Janatar Chokh, the political magazine edition of Manabzamin newspaper.

According to Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, if the Prime Minister's resignation letter was indeed submitted, then someone should have a copy of it. But after three weeks of searching in different places, no one could find it. Even the Cabinet Department, where the resignations of the President, Prime Minister and Ministers are usually reserved, has been contacted. But nothing was found there either. So finally the President gets the opportunity to know the answer directly.

On August 5, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the country in the face of student agitation and mass protests. According to Article 57 (a) of the Constitution, if the Prime Minister resigns, he must submit his resignation letter to the President. But the President said that no resignation letter of Sheikh Hasina or any related evidence has reached him.

According to the President, 'I have tried many times to collect the resignation letter, but failed. Maybe it's not his time.'