The High Court (HC) on Tuesday issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to dispose of a writ petition within 10 days filed for formation of an independent investigation commission to unveil the facts behind the BDR carnage that occurred in Pilkhana in 2009.
A HC division of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued the rule after hearing the writ petition filed for its directive on the government to constitute the commission.
The court set November 24 for the next hearing.
Lawyers Md Tanvir Ahmed and Biplab Kumar Poddar filed the petition as a public interest litigation on 20 October.
In the petition, they also prayed for an HC order on the authorities concerned to declare February 25 as “Shaheed Sena Dibos (martyred soldier day)”.
Lawyer Tanvir himself moved the petition while Deputy Attorney General Tanim Khan stood for the state.
During his submission before the court, Tanvir said no investigation report about the culprits and masterminds behind the massacre in Pilkhana was published nationally.
After the fall of the Awami League (AL) government on August 5, the families of the victims and former army officers have been giving new information about the massacre.
He said some people have claimed that the investigation was not conducted in a proper manner.
He said they have submitted a petition to the Home Ministry on 3 November, requesting formation of a national independent investigation commission and declaring 25 February as ‘Shaheed Sena Dibos.
The carnage inside Pilkhana headquarters took place on February 25-26, 2009, leaving 74 people including 57 army officials killed.
On November 5 in 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 150 BDR members and two civilians to death and life imprisonment to 160 others in connection with the murder case.
A total of 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers, were handed jail sentences and 278 others were acquitted.
The HC later pronounced its verdict on 27 November 2017, confirming the death penalty of 139 persons and life term to 185 others. Some 228 accused were awarded different jail terms and 45 others were acquitted of charges.
The state has filed leave to appeals (permission for filing appeal) against 83 accused who were acquitted of the charges or which punishments were commuted.
