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Published : 13 May 2013, 06:40 AM
The High Court has quashed a writ petition challenging polls to the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporations (DCC) clearing the road for elections.
Election Commission lawyer Shahdin Malik said there was no legal hurdle left to hold the proposed DCC elections.
High Court bench of Justices Naima Haider and Zafar Ahmed gave the verdict on Monday quashing the writ petition and rule to stop the DCC polls.
After election schedules were announced, the polls got stuck following a High Court rule and stay order based on the petition.
Manzill Murshid took part in the hearing on behalf of the plaintiff while Deputy Attorney General Md Mokhlesur Rahman represented the state.
Malik represented the Election Commission.
He alleged the plea had been filed only to cause harassment.
“An Appellate Division order bars a stay on elections after the schedule is announced. But the High Court had stopped the polls by issuing a rule,” Malik had argued.
“There is no bar to holding polls now and we (the Election Commission) are ready for it,” he said.
Murshid said they would appeal again if new voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise.
Schedules to the elections were announced in April last year after the government bifurcated the Dhaka City Corporation.
Within a week Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed a petition seeking an stay order on the election until several sections of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act were implemented.
After primary hearing, the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chaudhry and Jahangir Hossain on Apr 16 last year ordered delimiting boundaries of the capital’s municipal wards as soon as possible. The bench also ordered an update of the voter list three months prior to the elections.
The court also asked why the Election Commission would not be ordered to hold the polls after implementation of related sections of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act.
On July 23 last year, the court extended duration of the stay order by three months. Later, the duration was extended on two occasions, on Oct 8 last year and January this year.
Elections to the city corporations were slated to be held on May 24 last year, according to the previous schedule.
