HC freeze on government order suspending Sylhet Mayor Ariful upheld

A freeze on the government's order suspending Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury has been upheld by the top court.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 March 2017, 06:08 AM
Updated : 23 March 2017, 07:20 AM

On Thursday, the chief justice-led Appellate Division bench heard the state's petition seeking to stay the High Court's order and decided not to rule on it.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state while counsels Mainul Hossain and Abdul Halim Kafi represented the Sylhet mayor.

"As the Appellate Division has gone for a 'no order', the High Court's decision remains upheld. There are no more legal hurdles for Mayor Ariful Haque to resume duties," said Kafi.

The local government ministry suspended Ariful in January 2015 after the court indicted him for the murder of Awami League leader AMS Kibria.

Kibria, who served as the finance minister in Awami League’s 1996-2001 government, and four others were killed in a grenade attack on Jan 27, 2005 while returning to Habiganj after a rally.

The then general secretary of the Habiganj Awami League, Abdul Majid Khan had filed two cases over the attacks – one over the killings and the other over the explosions – that very night.

Police pressed charges on 10 people on Mar 20 the same year. The plaintiff objected to it the following year.

During the 2007-08 caretaker government, the High Court ordered further investigation into the case.

On June 20, 2011, investigators accused 14 people, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami’s Bangladesh leader Mufti Hannan, in the chargesheet they submitted to the court.

But Kibria's family filed an objection to it eight days later at the Habiganj court.

In January the following year, Sylhet’s Speedy Trial Tribunal accepted the objection and ordered further investigation.

Following the third probe, charges were pressed on 11 others, including Ariful in a supplementary chargesheet in December 2014.

On Dec 21, the court ordered their arrests.

Eight days later, Ariful surrendered to the trial court and sought bail. He landed in jail as his petition was rejected.

Ariful, who was elected mayor in 2013, secured bail from the High Court on Jan 4 this year.