Staff Reporter :
The Appellate Division has disposed of the leave-to-appeal petition-filed seeking a stay on the gazette notification declaring BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)-with an observation.
The order was passed on Thursday by an Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.
Advocate Mohammad Hossain represented the petitioner in court, while Barrister A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon appeared for Ishraque Hossain. Advocate Muhammad Yasin Khan represented the Election Commission.
Advocate Mohammad Hossain said, “Today the Appellate Division has disposed of the writ case. We hope the Election Commission will soon appeal the decision of the Election Tribunal. If they fail, we will take legal steps again.”
In response to a question, he added, “The term (of the gazette) has already expired. There is no scope for administering the oath now.”
However, Barrister A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon said, “The court did not issue a stay on the gazette.
It only made an observation that the Election Commission is an independent constitutional body and will make the final decision regarding the gazette declaring Ishraque as mayor.”
He further noted, “The leave-to-appeal was not granted. No stay order was issued. The court said the Election Commission’s decision would be final.”
In response to another question, he said, “The Election Commission has already made a decision, and it cannot now backtrack. If they maintain their decision, the government is obligated to administer the oath.”
Earlier on May 22, a High Court bench comprising Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury rejected the writ petition, clearing the way for Ishraque Hossain to take oath as mayor, according to his counsel. The seven-page order was published on the Supreme Court’s website that evening.
The petitioner later filed an appeal on May 26. The DSCC election was held on February 1, 2020. Awami League’s candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was elected mayor.
The Election Commission published the gazette on February 2, after which Taposh took the oath and began serving as mayor.
In that election, Taposh received over 400,000 votes, while his nearest rival, BNP’s Ishraque Hossain, secured 236,000 votes. Alleging irregularities and corruption, Ishraque filed a case on March 3, 2020, seeking cancellation of the results.
Following the fall of the Awami League government in August last year in a popular uprising, all city corporation mayors were removed. Since then, Additional Secretary Shahjahan Mia served as the administrator of DSCC.
On March 27, the Election Tribunal-headed by Dhaka’s First Joint District Judge Md. Nurul Islam-voided the 2020 DSCC election results and declared Ishraque Hossain as mayor. The court ordered the Election Commission to publish the gazette within 10 days, which was done on April 27.
On the same day, two individuals-Rafiqul Islam and Mamunur Rashid-served legal notices against the tribunal’s verdict and the gazette, urging that Ishraque not be administered the oath.
They argued that the ruling was rushed without due process, and the EC should have challenged it but didn’t. They also claimed the term had ended, and the mayoral post had already been vacated via ordinance.
Subsequently, Mamunur Rashid filed a writ petition with the High Court, challenging the March 27 verdict and the April 27 gazette, and requested a rule asking why these should not be declared illegal. He also sought an injunction against administering Ishraque’s oath.
The writ sought to stay the effectiveness of the verdict and gazette pending the outcome.
Meanwhile, supporters of Ishraque Hossain staged protests last week demanding that he be sworn in as DSCC mayor.
Initially staging a sit-in at Nagar Bhaban, they later moved to the roads in front of Matsya Bhaban, Kakrail, and Jamuna from May 21. On May 22 afternoon, Ishraque himself announced a 48-hour suspension of the protest.
