A petition has been filed in the High Court, seeking a gazette notification to officially declare the current interim government as a “revolutionary government”.

The petition also seeks publication of a gazette notification declaring those who sacrificed their lives and were injured in the July movement as freedom fighters.

Advocate ASM Shahriar Kabir told The Business Standard yesterday that he filed the writ petition on behalf of the petitioner, freedom fighter Mofazzal Hossain, on October 23.

He added that the petition could be heard by Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury of the High Court on Sunday.

The petition also seeks an order declaring the government’s inaction in publishing the newspapers illegal.

Attorney Kabir explained that the current government is not only formed outside the constitution, but also outside the ruling of the Appellate Division regarding the 13th amendment.

“Therefore, if there is no such declaration, the court can declare the current government unconstitutional and replace it with a military coup,” he said.

The lawyer added that a revolutionary government cannot be removed by a military coup or by a court ruling.

In recent times, popular uprisings in many countries, including Romania, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Libya have been recognized as revolutionary governments, he said.

Advocate Kabir also said that the petitioner filed the petition after serving a legal notice to the respondents on October 20 seeking to declare the caretaker government as a revolutionary government.

“As no response was received, the writ petition was filed,” he added.

The respondents named in the petition include the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Counsel, the Legal Secretary and the Personal Secretary to the Legal Counsel.

What the petition says

The writ petition states that on August 5, the “autocratic government”, including the illegitimate prime minister and his ministers, fled the country.

The wave of revolution is said to have affected all sectors, including the judiciary, media and administration, necessitating the formation of a consensus government outside constitutional boundaries.

However, the current government has not issued any proclamation reflecting the aspirations of the movement or recognizing the people involved as freedom fighters in 2024.

In this revolution, the petitioner seeks a formal declaration, but since no such proclamation was made, the petitioner filed the writ petition as an aggrieved party entitled to remedy.

The petition also says that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India with her cabinet and is now living there without a Bangladeshi passport after the government canceled all diplomatic passports. She is rumored to have acquired a new Bangladeshi passport and received a visa to stay in India.

The petitioner’s lawyer said: “The autocrat Hasina is trying to overthrow the revolutionary government following the Machiavelli Theory and it has come to the nation’s knowledge from the newspapers that she is going to form a government in exile.”