The High Court has postponed its verdict on a petition seeking to suspend the Election Commission’s (EC) gazette notification that declared BNP leader Ishraq Hossain as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
The court scheduled the order for Thursday, May 22.
The High Court bench, comprising Justice Md. Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury, held a hearing on Wednesday and set the new date for the verdict.
The court had earlier conducted a hearing on Tuesday and initially scheduled the order for Wednesday. The petition was listed as the 11th case on the court’s daily cause list, with the hearing set for 12:30 PM.
When the case came up as scheduled, Ishraq’s lawyers, the petitioner’s counsel, and the state representatives participated in the hearing. A supplementary application was submitted on behalf of the petitioner. The hearing continued until around 1:15 PM, after which the court postponed the verdict to the following morning.
The Dhaka South City Corporation election was held on February 1, 2020. The candidate from the Awami League (currently banned) Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was elected mayor. The Election Commission published the election results in the gazette on February 2, 2020. Taposh took oath and assumed office.
Ishraq, a member of BNP’s International Affairs Committee, filed a case on March 3, 2020, seeking annulment of the election results, alleging irregularities and corruption.
Following a mass uprising on August 5, 2022, the Awami League government was toppled. On August 19 the same year, mayors of Dhaka South and other city corporations were removed. On March 27 of the current year, the first joint district judge and election tribunal of Dhaka delivered a verdict in Ishraq’s case, annulling Taposh’s election and declaring Ishraq the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
Following the court ruling, the Election Commission issued a gazette notification on April 27 declaring Ishraq the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
The EC sent a letter to the Local Government Ministry to take necessary action for Ishraq’s oath-taking as mayor. However, as no steps were taken, Ishraq’s supporters began a protest camp in front of the city corporation building on May 14.
Earlier, on May 13, a Supreme Court lawyer named Md. Mamunur Rashid filed a petition challenging the election tribunal’s verdict and the EC’s gazette notification. The court heard the petition over Tuesday and Wednesday.
Senior lawyer Mohammad Hossain appeared for the petitioner, while senior lawyers A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Kaiser Kamal represented Ishraq. Lawyer A.K.M. Ehsanur Rahman was also present. Deputy Attorney Generals Md. Mahfuzur Rahman and Khan Ziaur Rahman represented the state during the hearing.
