HC bins writ seeking polls rescheduling under supervision of army

The High Court has dismissed a writ seeking the dissolution of the parliament and rescheduling under the direct supervision of the Bangladesh Army.

The High Court bench comprising Justice Iqbal Kabir and Justice Bishwajit Debnath issued the order on Wednesday.

Advocate Saidur Rahman stood for the writ petitioner. Attorney General AM Amin Uddin stood for the state. He was accompanied by Assistant Attorney General Md Saiful Alam, MMG Sarwar Payel and Tahmina Poly.

The petitioner's lawyer later said that the High Court dismissed the writ application because it was filed directly without sending a legal notice to the Election Commission.

On December 10, a political party named Insaniyat Biplob Bangladesh filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking dissolution of the parliament and rescheduling under the direct supervision of the Bangladesh Army. 

The writ petition sought a direction to appoint the army with magisterial powers to maintain law and order in the elections.

After filing the writ, Imam Hayat, founding president of Insaniyat Biplob Bangladesh, said: "In the last election, we saw that the ruling parliamentarians abused the power of the government in their constituencies by using the administration, the police and their own armed men to seize polling stations and obstruct others from voting."

He said: "It is impossible to have an impartial election by retaining the parliament. To protect the country and democracy through free and fair elections, we have filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking an order to dissolve the parliament and conduct elections under the direct supervision of the army through the interim government."

Insaniyat Biplob Bangladesh was registered as a political party by the Election Commission (EC) on the orders of the High Court on May 9. Their electoral symbol is Apple.