The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh inserted "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" at the beginning of the constitution and validated all laws made by military rulers following the 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état. It was passed in 1979 under a parliament led by President Ziaur Rahman. The amendment fundamentally altered the nature of the constitution of Bangladesh.[1] The amendment was declared illegal in a verdict of the Supreme Court in 2010. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, passed in 2011, restored secularism.[2]
President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in the 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état and his government replaced by a military one. The second parliament was formed in 1979 led by President General Ziaur Rahman which passed the 5th amendment. After the coup, the new president, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, repealed the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunal) Order 1972 which allowed for the trial of war criminals of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Later, President Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem removed the provision that banned religion based politics. President Ziaur Rahman removed the ban on convicted war criminals becoming voters and becoming members of parliament.[3] The coup regimes lasted from 15 August 1975 to 6 April 1979 during which the country was under martial law.[4] The amendment was passed on 9 April 1979.[5]
After the 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état Moon Cinema Hall in old Dhaka was nationalised and handed over to the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust. The owners filed suit in Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Ltd. v. Government of Bangladesh. On 29 August 2005, Bangladesh High Court declared the 5th amendment illegal; the verdict was upheld by Bangladesh Supreme Court with some exceptions on 2 February 2010.[8] Moudud Ahmed, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, told the court the 5th amendment was necessary and that it had been accepted by everyone.
On 18 December 2019, Bangladesh Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust handed 1 billion taka to the owner, Maqsudul Alam, as compensation for the nationalisation of his company.[9]