The Appellate Division on Sunday upheld its stay order on judicial inquiries into the attacks on Hindus and the vandalism of their temples and houses in six districts between October 13 and 18, 2021.
A six-judge bench chaired by chief justice Hasan Foez Siddique, however, assigned the High Court bench, led by Justice JBM Hassan, to dispose of a public interest litigation writ petition challenging the legality of government inaction to prevent such attacks within three months.
The Appellate Division issued the directive disposing of a petition filed by the government seeking a stay on a judicial inquiry ordered by the High Court on October 28, 2021.
On January 21, the Appellate Division stayed the High Court’s order until January 23 and posted it for hearing by full bench on the day.
The High Court had asked the chief metropolitan magistrates of Chattogram and Rangpur and the chief judicial magistrates of Cumilla, Noakhali, Chandpur and Feni to submit separate reports to it in 60 days after carrying out judicial inquiries into the attacks on Hindu minority people during Durga Puja, the largest festival of the community.
The High court issued the order for inquiries after hearing a public-interest-litigation writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Anup Kumar Saha and Mintu Chandra Das on October 21, 2021.
The HC bench in a rule on the government and the relevant local administrations asked them to explain in four weeks why their inaction and failure to protect the lives of Hindu people and their houses and properties would not be declared illegal.
The court in the rule also asked the government to explain why it would not be directed to take actions to protect the lives, temples, houses and properties of the Hindus.
The secretaries of the ministries of home, law, religion, posts and telecommunications, information technology, women and children affairs and social welfare, the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, the inspector general of police, the deputy commissioners and the superintendents of police of the six districts concerned, were among the 21 respondents, who were asked to reply to the rule.
Lawyer Subrata Chowdhury, who appeared for the writ petitioners in the Appellate Division, told reporters on Sunday that the High Court would now need to dispose of the rule as the order of the probes stayed.
‘We have no more interest in getting the rule heard by the High Court as the matter became ineffective following the stay order,’ he added.
The High Court order for judicial inquiries had come amid protests and condemnations of various socio-political organisations and professional bodies against the attacks on people of the religious minority and their temples after a copy of the Qur’an had been found on the lap of the idol of a Hindu god at a Durga Puja mandap in Cumilla on October 13, 2021.
Several temples and puja mandaps were vandalised in attacks after the video of the Cumilla incident had gone viral, triggering protests by a section of Muslims.
At least eight people, including three Hindus, were killed in attacks on Hindus and clashes with the police.
Over 600 people have, meanwhile, been arrested in 123 cases filed in connection with the attacks and clashes.
Police headquarters officials said that more than 1,000 named and some 20,000 unnamed people had been prosecuted in connection with the attacks and clashes in 22 districts.
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