HC order on reopening of Lakehead school stayed
Staff Reporter
The chamber court of the Appellate Division yesterday stayed until Sunday the High Court verdict that had directed the authorities concerned to reopen the Dhanmondi and Gulshan branches of Lakehead Grammar School by 24 hours.
The chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hussain passed the stay order following three separate petitions filed by the government seeking stay on the High Courts Tuesday verdict.
The chamber judge also sent the petitions to its full bench for hearing on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the High Court directed the government to reopen the Lakehead Grammar School within 24 hours. The institution was
shut down on charges of links with militancy and extremism. After hearing two separate writ petitions, an HC bench, comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan, directed that Lakeheads Dhanmondi and Gulshan branches in Dhaka be reopened.
The HC bench also directed the school authorities to assist investigators in probe, if allegations of militancy and extremism are raised against the institution in the future.
On November 9, the proprietor of the school, Khaled Hassan Matin, and guardians of 12 students filed two separate writ petitions, praying to the HC to stay the governments decision.
In response to the writ petitions, the HC bench, the same day, issued separate rules asking the government to explain why its decision to stop the functioning of three branches of Lakehead Grammar School in Dhaka should not be declared illegal. The HC also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to allow the owner of the school to resume operations immediately.
On November 6, the education ministry had asked the Dhaka district administration to close down the activities of the branches of the Lakehead Grammar School at Dhanmondi and Gulshan. The next day, a police team, led by a magistrate, closed down the schools branches at Dhanmondi and Gulshan.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam appeared for the state while Barrister Akhtar Imam and former attorney general Hassan Areif represented the petitioners.
