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Published : 21 May 2025, 03:34 PM
The High Court has deferred its ruling on the petition seeking to scrap the Election Commission's gazette announcing BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor and requesting a directive to prevent him from taking his oath of office.
The bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Debasish Roy Choudhury deferred the decision on Wednesday.
Though the order was originally scheduled for Wednesday following two rounds of hearings on Tuesday, further arguments from both sides were heard, prompting the court to set Thursday for the decision.
Lawyer Mohammad Hossain argued for the petitioner, while AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Kaysar Kamal and Deputy Attorney General Mahfuzur Rahman Milon represented Ishraque.
Hossain requested the court to issue a rule, claiming that there were several "errors" in the electoral tribunal's verdict in favour of Ishraque.
Meanwhile, Mahbub and Kaysar argued that if any party is aggrieved by the electoral tribunal’s decision, an appeal to the Election Appellate Tribunal. Without filing an appeal there, a lawyer cannot directly file a writ petition in the High Court.
Ishraque lost the DSCC election on Feb 1, 2020, to Awami League’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh by nearly 200,000 votes.
But on Mar 27 this year, Judge Md Nurul Islam of the Dhaka Election Tribunal overturned the result and declared Ishraque mayor.
The Election Commission (EC) issued a gazette on Apr 27 naming him mayor, but he has yet to take his oath.
On 14 May, Supreme Court lawyer and Dhaka South resident Md Mamunur Rashid filed the writ plea, seeking to bar the swearing-in.
Meanwhile, Ishraque’s supporters have effectively brought activities at Nagar Bhaban to a standstill for over a week, demanding his immediate swearing-in.
While the High Court hearing was ongoing on Wednesday, protests continued in the capital’s Kakrail and Matsya Bhaban areas.
In response to the pro-Ishraque demonstrations, the National Citizen Party (NCP) held a rally outside Election Bhaban, calling for the Election Commission's reconstitution and local government elections. They accused the commission of partiality in publishing the gazette in favour of Ishraque.
Dismissing the allegation, the EC said that the NCP's claim is "politically motivated" and there is no precedent of the EC being a part of an electoral tribunal’s verdict.
