Published : 04 Aug 2026, 08:35 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:30 AM
The High Court has suspended the National University's appointment of the wife of a local member of parliament as the president of the governing body of Mofazzal-Momena Chakladar Mohila College in Dhaka’s Savar before the end of the previous president’s term.
The High Court bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Fatema Anwar gave the order on Monday.
At the same time, the court issued a rule asking why the decision by the National University's college inspector and a section of the statute related to it should not be declared illegal.
Supreme Court lawyer Noor Ul Matin represented the petitioner at the court.
According to the petition details, on Apr 24, 2025, Jahangirnagar University Senate Member and Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Shihab Uddin Khan was appointed of the president of the governing body of Mofazzal-Momena Chakladar Women's Degree College for a period of two years.
Accordingly, his term was scheduled to end on Apr 24, 2027.
But eight months before the term ended, on Jul 23, the National University college inspector appointed Sabina Siddika, wife of BNP MP Dewan Mohammad Salauddin Babu from the Dhaka-19 constituency, as the new president.
After the decision, a legal notice was sent to the vice-chancellor, registrar and college inspector of National University on behalf of Shihab.
He demanded the withdrawal of the order within 48 hours and filed the petition after receiving no response.
The secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education, the secretary of the Ministry of Law, the vice-chancellor of the National University, the college inspector and the principal of Chakladar Women's College in Savar have been named as respondents in the petition.
The petition challenges Section 7 of the Governing Body of Colleges/Educational Institutions Affiliated to the National University (Amended) Statute, 2019. The section gives the National University vice-chancellor sole power to change the nomination of the governing body.
The petition states that the social and professional reputation of the petitioner has been damaged by being removed from office without any reason before the end of his term.
The petitioner Shihab told bdnews24.com, “The process of appointing the wife of a member of parliament as the president without giving any reason and without giving the previous president a chance to defend himself is illegal, discriminatory and arbitrary.”
