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The Appellate Division in an observation on Thursday said the Election Commission (EC) will decide whether BNP leader Ishraque Hossain will be sworn in as the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) or not.
A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed came up with the observation disposing of a petition seeking stay on gazette notification issued by the Election Commission announcing Ishraque Hossain as the mayor of DSCC, reports UNB.
Earlier, on Wednesday the Appellate Division set Thursday to hear the leave-to-appeal petition filed over the issue.
Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon stood for Ishraque while Advocate Mohammad Hossain represented the petitioner.
The High Court on May 22 dismissed a writ petition that sought a directive against administering the oath of office to BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), clearing the way for his swearing-in.
On May 14, Dhaka South resident Md Mamunur Rashid filed the writ petition seeking a stay on Ishraque’s swearing-in and disciplinary action against the judge who declared him mayor.
The petition also challenged the validity of the lower court’s verdict, which overturned the result of the 2020 DSCC polls.
The development came nearly two months after a lower court annulled the 2020 DSCC election result and declared Ishraque the BNP-nominated candidate, as the rightful mayor.
On February 1, 2020, Awami League candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was declared the winner of the DSCC election, defeating Ishraque by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes. However, on 27 March 2024, Judge Md Nurul Islam of the Dhaka First Joint District Judge and Electoral Tribunal nullified that result and declared Ishraque the victor.
On 27 April, the Election Commission issued a gazette notification announcing Ishraque as the new mayor of DSCC.
Supporters of Ishraque have been staging protests in front of Nagar Bhaban for over a week demanding that he be handed over the responsibilities of DSCC mayor without further delay.