A petition seeking leave to appeal has been filed with the Appellate Division, aiming to suspend both the electoral tribunal`s verdict and the Election Commission’s gazette that declared BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
The leave-to-appeal petition was submitted on Monday, challenging a High Court ruling issued on May 22.
The High Court had previously dismissed a writ petition that requested a stay on Ishraque’s mayoral declaration and the subsequent gazette notification.
The original writ had been filed on May 13 by a Supreme Court lawyer, seeking to suspend Ishraque’s appointment as mayor following allegations of irregularities and corruption in the 2020 DSCC election.
After the High Court rejected this writ, the petitioner filed a leave-to-appeal seeking intervention from the Appellate Division. A hearing is expected soon in the chamber court.
The DSCC election was held on February 1, 2020, where the ruling party`s candidate, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, was initially declared the winner and assumed mayoral responsibilities.
On March 3, 2020, Ishraque filed an election case challenging the results on grounds of fraud and malpractice.
Following the fall of the ruling Awami League government during a mass uprising on August 5 of the previous year, all city mayors, including Taposh, were removed on August 19.
On March 27 this year, the electoral tribunal nullified Taposh’s victory and declared Ishraque Hossain as the new mayor.
Based on this ruling, the Election Commission issued a gazette on April 27 formally announcing Ishraque as the DSCC mayor.
