FBCCI president challenges HC order halting elections

FBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad has moved the Supreme Court, challenging a High Court order that has halted the elections to the apex trade body for two months.

Supreme Court Chamber Judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Thursday forwarded his petition to the regular bench of the Appellate Division, which will hear it on Mar 27.

“The election activities can continue in the meantime,” said Barrister Badruddoza Badal, who argued for Mymensingh Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Aminul Hoque Shamim.

The High Court halted the elections to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry for two months on Wednesday after hearing a petition filed by Shamim.

Referring to FBCCI election rules, Shamim said in the petition filed on Feb 6 that a director must be picked from every division, but Mymensingh was not included in the board, although it became a division in 2015 and the Maymensingh Chamber petitioned for its inclusion in the FBCCI board last year.

Hearing his petition, the court issued a rule asking why an order should not be passed to include a director from Mymensingh.

The commerce secretary, FBCCI president and election board members were made respondents.

The commerce secretary stated that there was no scope of including a director from Mymensingh because the polls schedule was already announced.  The commerce ministry came up with the same explanation.

Later Shamim filed another petition seeking a stay on the elections on which High Court put the stay order on Wednesday.

According to the schedule, the FBCCI polls were slated for May 14.

The deadline of submitting nomination papers was Apr 10.

The elected and nominated directors were supposed to elect the president, the first vice-president and the vice-president on May 16.

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