Three key leaders of the Students Movement Against Discrimination on Tuesday withdrew two writ petitions they filed on Monday with the High Court seeking a ban on the political activities of the Awami League and its 10 allies.
The High Court bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi, following a request for non-prosecution by the students鈥� lawyer Ahsanul Karim ordered that the petitions were rejected 鈥榓s they are not being pressed鈥�.
The petitions were filed by Sarjis Alam, Hasibul Islam and Md Abul Hasnat, also known as Hasnat Abdullah, also seeking the cancellation of the results of the past three national elections and the recovery of benefits received by the beneficiaries of the elections.
The writ petitions were filed 12 weeks after the AL government was ousted by a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
Lawyer Ahsanul Karim, talking to reporters on Tuesday, said, 鈥楾hey (petitioners) have decided not to proceed with the petitions鈥 cannot comment on their reasons for withdrawing.鈥�
The allies of the AL, according to the petitioners, are the Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Tarikat Federation, Liberal Democratic Party, Jatiya Party (Manju), Ganatantri Dal, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Marxist鈥揕eninist (Barua), and Socialist Party of Bangladesh.
Previously, two other High Court benches declined to take up the petitions.
One of the petitions sought a ruling directing the interim government to explain why it should not be ordered to prohibit all political activities of the AL and its 10 allies.
The petition alleged that these parties engaged in widespread violence, undermined democratic institutions, and unlawfully seized the state power.
Additionally, it requested an interim order prohibiting the AL and its allies from engaging in any political activities within the territory of Bangladesh until further notice.
In a related filing, the petitioners also sought a ruling questioning the validity of the results of the 10th, 11th, and 12th parliamentary elections held on January 5, 2014, December 30, 2018, and January 7, 2024, respectively.
The petitioners further prayed to the court to issue a rule to explain why sedition charges should not be brought against the Members of Parliament elected with AL or its allied parties鈥� nominations for contesting these elections.
Named respondents in the petitions include the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Election Commission, and the National Board of Revenue, as well as the AL and its 10 allies.
The petitions claimed that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her party orchestrated a violent crackdown, which the petitioners termed 鈥楯uly Massacre鈥�,聽 resulting in over 1,000 deaths, 400 students blinded, and more than 20,000 critically injured. Among the fatalities, 32 were reportedly children, with over 11,000 individuals detained nationwide.
The petitions claimed that these parties amassed substantial financial resources unethically and used these funds to manipulate recent elections.
This poses a severe threat to the integrity of future elections unless their funding sources are disclosed, the petitioners argued.
