Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam, the key coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, have withdrawn the writ petition seeking a ban on the activities of 11 political parties, including Awami League and Jatiya Party.
They withdrew the petition from the High Court bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi on Tuesday.
On Monday, two separate petitions were submitted to the High Court seeking the suspension of activities of the Awami League along with ten other political parties that allegedly benefited from their connections with the former ruling party.
Both writs raised several constitutional questions, which led the High Court bench to decline to hear them.
The first petition mentioned the Awami League, Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Party (Anwar Hossain Manju), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, Ganatantri Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Marxist-Leninist (Dilipa Barua), and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal.
The petition accused these parties of being involved in indiscriminate killings and the erosion of democratic institutions.
It sought a court directive to bar these parties from engaging in political activities and participating in elections.
The second petition called for the annulment of the last three elections—2014, 2018, and 2024—and demanded that those who served as members of parliament during these terms return their salaries and benefits to the treasury.
On Monday, the writs were listed as cases 283 and 284 in the cause list of the High Court bench comprising Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Asaf.
Although scheduled for a hearing, the bench expressed its inability to proceed.
Representing the state, Deputy Attorney General Mahfuz Bin Yusuf, Assistant Attorney General Shafiqul Rahman, and Barrister Mohiuddin Hanif were present in court.
The court’s website shows "Out" in front of the case numbers, indicating the cases are "Out of List" or removed from the cause list.
Deputy Attorney General Mahfuz Bin Yusuf said that the court advised the petitioners' lawyer that several significant constitutional questions had emerged in the writs. Due to the constitutional complexities involved, the court suggested the applications be heard by a senior bench of the High Court.
