The High Court on Wednesday declared that all those involved in firing shots from helicopters during the nationwide protests in July, as well as those who ordered the action, are criminals.

The court also observed that anyone associated with the system that enabled this is also guilty.

This observation was made by the High Court bench led by Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif during a hearing on a writ petition concerning the helicopter shootings during the quota reform movement.

In the official notification of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, the protestors were blamed. The court has scheduled the order on the writ petition for Thursday.

Earlier, Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker filed the writ, which was set for hearing on Wednesday.

The writ petition called for an investigation into the deaths of nine children and requested compensation of Tk1 crore for each family.

Additionally, the petition stated that if any further deaths of children are discovered, they should also be included in this compensation scheme.

Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker filed the writ on August 1, using excerpts from various newspapers.

The writ also requested the formation of a three-member investigation committee.

When the writ was presented on August 4 before the bench of Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice SM Masud Hossain Dolon, they refused to hear the petition.

At that time, the senior judge on the bench commented that political issues should be settled on the streets.

Following this, the bench began hearing the writ petition calling for an end to direct police firing on protestors, which the High Court eventually dismissed outright.

V7/DK/MSS