The Bangladesh High Court has called for the punishment of former military dictator HM Ershad in its full verdict in a case in which it had declared the Seventh Amendment to the constitution illegal. The two judge bench of the High court released the full text of its judgment yesterday, four months after pronouncing the verdict in the historic Seventh Amendment case on August 26. The verdict was given in a petition filed by Siddique Ahmed of Chittagong challenging legality of the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution. Talking to reporters in Dhaka on the judgement, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that the court has asserted that proclaiming martial law and ravaging the constitution accounts to treason and it can't be pardoned. General Ershad had proclaimed martial law on March 24, 1982, and legitimized it by passing the seventh amendment to the constitution to rule the country for nine years till 1990. Ershad is now a member of the parliament and leads the Jaitya party which is part of the ruling Grand alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami league. The High Court in its judgement has also come down heavily the other earlier military regimes in the country led by Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sa'dat Mohammad Sayem and Ziaur Rahman and emphasized that all military rulers and their accomplices must be punished.The Two Judge Bench of the Bangladesh High Court has not only declared the seventh amendment illegal but has also called for severe punishment against all those who were involved in imposing martial law in the country. The court in its 136 page judgment has said that military regimes and the martial laws devastated the democratic fabric, as well as the patriotic aspirations of the country. The court stated that Not only General Ershad but all his accomplices as well as such perpetrators of 1975 martial law, who may still be alive, must face the wrath of ultimate justice. The court has said that the government should explore the possibility of punishing them under the relevant laws or a special law and also come up with an infallible legislation to protect the constitution from future vultures who may try to usurp power.