The Bangladesh High Court on Thursday declared as illegal the seventh amendment to the country's constitution that ratified Lt. Gen. HM Ershad's military takeover and the acts under his military rule. A two judge bench of Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain passed the order after hearing a writ petition that challenged the constitution's seventh amendment. The High Court observed that HM Ershad had made the constitution subordinate to the martial law, which is illegal and unconstitutional. The court also asserted that the constitution is the supreme law of the country and it cannot be made subordinate to any law. The high court observed that the persons, who illegally took over the state power, should be suitably punished and Parliament can enact a relevant law for this. Lt Gen HM Ershad, now an MP and Jatiya Party President, had taken over power from the elected BNP government and then legitimized his rule with the help of the 7th amendment of the Constitution. The amendment ratified the proclamation of martial law and other regulations and orders and instructions by him between March 24, 1982, and November 10, 1986. A petition challenging the validity of the 7th Amendment was filed by a roadside vendor Siddique Ahmed who was sentenced to life term imprisonment in a murder case by a special martial law court at Chittagong Cantonment constituted during the period. Siddique, now on bail granted by the High Court, was supposed to face trial at the conventional district and sessions judge court in Chittagong, but the case was transferred to the military court by a military regulation. Earlier on February 2 this year, the Supreme Court had upheld the High Court verdict that declared the constitution's Fifth Amendment which had given legitimacy to the regimes of Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem and Major General Ziaur Rahman between August 15, 1975, and April 9, 1979 as illegal.