Sarjis, Hasnat withdraw writ petitions: What their lawyer says
In a surprising move, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinators Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah and Hasibul Islam today (29 October) withdrew a writ petition, filed yesterday, seeking court directives to prevent 11 parties, including the Awami League, from conducting political activities.
They have also decided not to proceed with another writ, which was also filed yesterday, questioning the legitimacy of the last three parliamentary elections - 10th, 11th, and 12th.
They are yet to provide any explanations for backtracking from their decisions.
Their lawyer, Ahsanul Karim, briefed journalists on the matter on the Supreme Court premises in the afternoon.
"If the client wants to withdraw a case, they instruct us to withdraw the case and the lawyer works to that end. The client never says why they are giving the instructions. So I cannot say why the case is not being pursued," said Karim.
However, giving his own opinion on the matter, Karim said it is understandable that the petitioners have taken the decision in consideration of the "overall democratic transition and for the overall well-being of the country".
"When someone does not want to proceed with the case, the court removes it from the agenda," he added.
Speaking about filing the first writ petition against 11 parties, the lawyer said, "Some party names have been mistakenly listed. Some names were later omitted. That needed to be corrected. Had the case been pursued, the names would have been dropped."