Three co-ordinators of the anti-discrimination movement -- Sarjis Alam, Abul Hasnat and Hasibul Islam - have withdrawn their two separate writ petitions filed against the political activities of 11 political parties and the last three national elections held under the AL government.
The HC comprising Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi passed the order following a prayer made by Ahsanul Karim, counsel for the petitioners, saying that his client wanted to withdraw the petitions.
Later, Ahsanul Karim said that the petitioners do not want to pursue the writ petitions. After the prayer the High Court dropped the writ petitions from the cause list.
The bench then rejected the petitions "as being not pressed" meaning the petitions were not presented properly, he added.
Among the two petitions, one was filed seeking restriction on the political activities of the ousted Awami League and its allies 10 other political parties while the other was filed challenging the legality of the 10th, 11th, and 12th parliamentary elections.
The 10 other political parties mentioned in the petitions are the Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Tarikat Federation, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Jatiya Party (Manju), Ganatantri Dal, Marxist-Leninist (Barua), and the Socialist Party of Bangladesh.
According to the writ, besides banning all kinds of political activities of the 11 parties, the writ also sought a ruling on why the parties should not be banned from participating in all kinds of elections in the future.
Law Secretary, Home Secretary, Election Commission and Inspector General of Police have been made respondents in the writ petitions.
Advocate Ahsanul Karim, who represented the petitioners, said that the writ aims to prevent AL leaders from engaging in political activities.
He said that the move is intended to uphold public interest amid ongoing political developments.
This latest petition follows a prior application filed in August, which called for a full ban on the AL but it was subsequently rejected by a High Court dual bench headed by Justice AKM Asaduzzaman on September 1.
On October 23, the interim government imposed a ban on AL's student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, citing provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Formed on June 23, 1949, the Awami League has been facing mounting challenges after its president and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina left the country following a student-led uprising on August 5.
