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Supreme Court lawyer Jashim Uddin has issued a legal notice to National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Sarjis Alam, accusing him of contempt of court.
The notice was sent on Saturday in response to a Facebook post Sarjis made following the dismissal of a writ petition that sought to block BNP leader Ishraque Hossain from being sworn in as mayor of Dhaka South, bdnews24.com reports.
After the High Court rejected the petition on Thursday, Sarjis wrote in a Facebook post: “If a verdict can be obtained from the High Court by forming a mob, then what is the need for such a High Court?”
Lawyer Jashim said that Sarjis’s post amounted to contempt of court as it "undermined the dignity of the judiciary".
"That’s why he has been asked to issue an unconditional public apology within two hours of receiving the notice.”
In the 2020 Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) election, Awami League candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh defeated BNP’s Ishraque by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes.
Following the change in government, Dhaka’s electoral tribunal annulled the result on March 27 and declared Ishraque, the son of former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, as the DSCC mayor.
On April 27, the Election Commission published a gazette recognising Ishraque as mayor of Dhaka South. However, on May 14, a Supreme Court lawyer and Dhaka South resident Md Mamunur Rashid filed a writ petition seeking to block his swearing-in.
That same day, Ishraque’s supporters began protests demanding he be formally handed the mayoral duties, which brought operations at Nagar Bhaban to a halt. Citing legal complications, the local government ministry refrained from arranging his swearing-in.
Frustrated, Ishraque called for the resignation of advisors Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain and Mahfuj Alam in a Facebook post, a demand echoed by his supporters. Shortly afterwards, the High Court dismissed the writ petition. Sarjis made his controversial comment following that verdict.
Later that afternoon, Ishraque announced a suspension of the protest, giving a 48-hour deadline for the swearing-in ceremony to be arranged.
Although the oath has yet to be administered, Ishraque has declared himself ready to serve as the “people’s mayor”.
In a Facebook post on Friday morning, Ishraque wrote: “The oath is just a formality. As the people’s mayor, it is my responsibility to ensure that preparations are in place for proper waste management ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha.”
“I assure residents that until a mayor is appointed for Dhaka North, I will assist the administration and sanitation workers there in fulfilling their duties. For Dhaka South, I will approve the formation of zone-based monitoring teams in coordination with former councillors and candidates from the last election.”