The High Court on Tuesday asked the interim government to explain why a National Independent Investigation Committee should not be formed to thoroughly investigate the massacre at the then Bangladesh Rifles headquarters in February 25鈥�26, 2009.
The court also directed the government to explain why February 25 should not be officially designated as 鈥楽haheed Sena Dibash鈥� to honor the victims of carnage.
A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed in the massacre during the Awami League regime of Sheikh Hasina who was deposed through a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury issued the ruling in response to a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Md Tanvir Ahmed and Biplab Kumar Poddar in public interest.
In an interim order, the court instructed the interim government鈥檚 home adviser, Lieutenant General (retd) M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, to resolve within 10 days an application by Tanvir seeking updates on ther forming of an independent commission proposed by himself for the BDR carnage probe.
The court further asked the authorities of the interim government to explain why the inaction of the then government in probing the BDR carnage should not be declared illegal.
Tanvir argued that the 2009 massacre was not a spontaneous revolt but a premeditated attack against the army officers stationed at the then BDR headquarters.
He suggested that a new investigation be conducted, ideally led by a retired Appellate Division judge, to unearth the actual perpetrators and motives behind the incident.
Tanvir further alleged that the massacre was a conspiracy and the then head of the government Sheikh Hasina and her associates were involved in the killing mission.
Tanvir referenced former army chief Moeen U Ahmed, who said in a recent media interview that the true reasons behind the massacre remained undisclosed due to the previous government鈥檚 inaction, underscoring the need for transparency and accountability in addressing the national tragedy.
Moeen termed the massacre a 鈥榩replanned act of murders of our army officers in shooting at a place鈥� instead of the revolt as described and argued for a thorough and independent probe to bring the actual perpetrators to book.
The Tuesday鈥檚 ruling came at a time when the families of the victims of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, and its sacked members has been demanding for establishing a commission to investigate the incident and bring actual perpetrators to justice.
BDR Kalyan Parishad on November 2 put forth the demand.
The victims have also urged the government to reinstate jobs of more than 18,000 sacked members of the force, claiming that they were not offenders.
The victim families termed the earlier legal proceedings a mockery of justice and said that the toppled Awami League government manipulated the investigation of the rebellion.
In the carnage, a group of soldiers took up arms against their officers deputed from the army at the Durbar Hall during an annual gathering at the force鈥檚 headquarters in Dhaka.
Special courts, meanwhile, sentenced 5,926 soldiers to imprisonment for varying terms on mutiny charges in 57 cases, including 11 in Dhaka, while two criminal cases, one filed over the murders and the other filed under the Explosive Substances Act, are still pending with court.