BLAST, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh Mohila Porishad, BRAC Human Rights and Legal Services and Nijera Kori filed a writ petition (W.P. No. 5863/2009) challenging the imposition and infliction of extra judicial penalties in local salish by persons without any lawful authority. The petition was filed following several newspaper reports and investigations by the petitioners of violence inflicted on women in the name of ‘fatwas’ by local religious leaders and powerful persons. In such cases, it was alleged that a number of deaths, suicides and incidents of grievous hurt of women were reported arising from punishment given in salish, but the law enforcing agencies took no action to prevent these illegal actions.

On 8 July 2010, a High Court Division Bench comprising Mr. Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Mr. Justice Gobinda Chandra Thakur declared infliction of all kind of extra-judicial punishments, including extra-judicial punishment by local salish in the name of fatwa, to be illegal and without any lawful authority and any person involved, present, participating or assisting in any such conviction or execution would come under purview of the offences under Penal Code and subject to punishment. Earlier on 25.08.2009 the Court had issued a Rule Nisi directing the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, law-enforcing agencies, Union Parishads and Pourashavas to take immediate measures against extra-judicial penalties (fatwa) in salish, and to show cause as to why their failure to prevent such illegal acts in compliance with their statutory obligations should not be declared to be illegal and without any lawful effect. The continued instances of imposition of extrajudicial punishments even after the Rule gave rise to two other writs filed by Advocate Salahuddin Dolon and Barrister Mahbub Shafique in 2010. The Court disposed of these three analogous writs together.