The High Court (HC) has dismissed a petition seeking the ban and deregistration of the Awami League for its alleged involvement in the indiscriminate killings of students and citizens during the anti-discrimination student movement.
An HC bench consisting of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Md Mahbubul Ul Islam delivered the order on Sunday (1 September).
On 19th August, Arifur Rahman Murad Bhuiyan, on behalf of the human rights organisation SARDA Society, filed a petition in the High Court, calling for the ban and deregistration of the Bangladesh Awami League.
The petition also sought the renaming of institutions bearing the name of Sheikh Hasina and requested the current interim government’s tenure to be extended to a minimum of three years to facilitate national reforms.
Furthermore, the petition demanded the recovery of Tk11 lakh crore that had allegedly been laundered abroad.
The Cabinet Secretary, the Secretary of the Public Division of the President’s Office, the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Law Secretary, the Secretary of the Election Commission, the Secretary of the Bank and Financial Institutions Division, the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the Chief of the BFIU, and the coordinators and co-coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement were named as respondents in the petition.
At the time, Arifur Rahman stated that the application sought the extension of the current interim government’s term to at least three years for the sake of national reform, the banning and deregistration of the Bangladesh Awami League due to its involvement in the indiscriminate killing of students and citizens, and the recovery of the Tk11 lakh crore laundered abroad.
Additionally, the petition requested the dismissal of all officials who were appointed on a contractual basis during the previous Awami League government, including the Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), as well as the transfer of all current divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, UNOs, and divisional commissioners, SPs, and OCs of the Bangladesh Police, with the formation of an impartial judicial investigation commission.
