Top court stays HC order declaring 15 August as National Mourning Day

The Appellate Division on Sunday stayed a High Court (HC) order that declared August 15 as a national holiday in observance of National Mourning Day in 2008.

A six-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order after hearing an appeal submitted challenging the HC order, said Additional Attorney General Barrister Anik R Haq.

The state submitted the appeal against the HC order, he said.

In 1996, the then Awami League (AL) government declared August 15, the day of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and some of his family members, as a national mourning day and a public holiday.

However, the four-party alliance government, led by the BNP, scrapped the national mourning day and holiday in 2002.

In 2008, AL-backed three lawyers filed a writ petition with the HC, and the court declared the BNP-led government's decision invalid, restoring the observance of National Mourning Day and the public holiday.

The appeal was filed with the HC seeking a stay order on the observance of August 15 and the public holiday.