Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman has called for the dismissal of a writ petition seeking to ban the Awami League.
A High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam heard the petition on Tuesday.
During the hearing, the attorney general told the court that the interim government had no decision to ban any political party.
“The government will not undermine the constitutional powers given to political parties. The people have suffered many injustices under previous authoritarian governments, and there are laws and courts to address those. However, Awami League members adhere to the party's ideology, so there is no basis for banning the party."
Regarding the petition, the attorney general said the petitioner had no authority to file it, adding that the Awami League had not been named as a respondent in it.
“The constitution of the organization SARDA, which filed the petition, does not allow such a case to be filed."
Asaduzzaman went on to say that in the past, many political matters had been dragged into court, and “we have paid the price for it.”
“The mass uprising has also impacted the judiciary. As a lawyer, it pains me when any incident occurs in court. Therefore, let politics remain in the political arena, and the petition should be dismissed with costs imposed on the applicant," he continued.
Afterwards, when the petitioner requested more time, the High Court scheduled the order for September 1.
The petition was filed in the High Court by Arifur Rahman Murad Bhuiyan, executive director of SARDA Society, on August 19 seeking to ban the Bangladesh Awami League and cancel its registration as a political party for allegedly killing students and civilians.
The petition also requested the renaming of institutions associated with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also president of the Awami League.
It also called for the current interim government to continue for a minimum of three years to reform the country, the recovery of Tk11,00,000 crore allegedly laundered abroad and the transfer of officials appointed under the Awami League government on a contractual basis.
