SC stays HC order halting suspension of Dinajpur mayor Jahangir
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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed for six weeks a High Court order that stopped the effectiveness of a notification issued by the Local Government Ministry suspending Dinajpur Municipality Mayor Syed Jahangir Alam.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the state seeking a stay on the High Court order.
The apex court at the same time asked the state to file regular leave to appeal petition against the HC order with it by this time.
Jahangir Alam, for the time being, cannot be back to the post of Dinajpur Municipality Mayor following the apex court order, said Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy who represented the state in the court proceedings.
Following a writ petition, the High Court on November 21 this year stayed for one month the effectiveness of the notification issued by the Local Government Ministry suspending Dinajpur Municipality Mayor Jahangir Alam, who was recently sentenced to one month jail by the Appellate Division in a contempt of court charge.
The HC, at the same time, issued a rule upon the respondents to explain as to why the issuance of the notification should not be declared illegal.
Later, the state filed a petition with the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the HC order, which came for hearing on Thursday at the apex court.
Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared in the court hearing on behalf of Jahangir Alam, while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy represented the state.
The Appellate Division on October 12 sentenced Jahangir Alam to one month's imprisonment and fined him Tk 0.1 million for making derogatory remarks about one of its judges. The apex court also ordered Jahangir to surrender before the lower court concerned of Dinajpur in a week.
Complying with the apex court order, Jahangir Alam surrendered in a Dinajpur court and the court sent him to jail. After serving the jail, he also paid the amount that the apex court imposed on him.
However, the Ministry of the Local Government on October 31 this year, through a notification, suspended Jahangir Alam from the post of Mayor, while he was serving the jail term.
After getting released from jail, he filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the notification. Upon hearing the writ petition, the HC stayed the effectiveness of the notification.