HC stay restores BUET residential hall seat to Chhatra League leader Imtiaz

The High Court has suspended the decision by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to scrap the residential hall seat of student and Chhatra League Imtiaz Hossain Rahim (Rabbi) for organising a gathering of BCL leaders on campus.

The High Court bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar made the decision on Monday after hearing a petition against BUET’s decision.

In addition, the court issued a rule asking why the decision should not be declared illegal and against the law. The BUET vice chancellor and other related officials have been asked to respond to the rule.

Barrister Harunur Rashid represented Imtiaz at the hearing, accompanied by Advocate Shah Manzurul Haque.

Harun said the petition challenged BUET’s decision to scrap the seat and requested it be restored.

After suspending the decision, the court added that the probe formed by BUET to look into the matter would continue its work.

Student politics was barred by an ‘emergency notice’ from the BUET administration following the death of Abrar Farhad, a student who was beaten to death allegedly by Chhatra League activists in October 2019.

Since then, student politics have been banned on the campus for the last four and a half years.

The university erupted in protest when several Chhatra League leaders visited the campus at the invitation of the organisation’s activist Imtiaz Hossain Rahim on Mar 28.

According to the students, Imtiaz, a student of the 21st batch in the civil engineering department and member of the central Chhatra League committee, organised the event.

Following the incident, the student protesters held a press conference in front of the BUET Shaheed Minar on Mar 29. They also boycotted all academic activities, including term finals, on Mar 30 and Mar 31, to protest the incident.

Later, Imtiaz’s hall seat was scrapped by BUET administration officials.

An investigative committee was also formed to look into the matter and was asked to submit a report by Apr 8.

Meanwhile, the Chhatra League held demonstrations and gatherings to protest Imtiaz’s suspension. A rally was also held at the Central Shaheed Minar on Mar 31, demanding the return of student politics to the BUET campus.

Following the ban, BUET student Imtiaz Hossain Rahim filed a petition with the High Court challenging the notice barring student politics. The High Court suspended the BUET notice, paving the way for a return of student politics to the university campus.

However, students at BUET have continued to press for a campus free of student politics. They sent an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urging her to maintain the separation of politics from the campus.