The supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain on Tuesday continued their protest by locking all gates of Dhaka South City Corporation headquarters, Nagar Bhaban, and all its zonal offices for the 11th consecutive day demanding the administer of Ishraque鈥檚 oath as the city mayor.
Thousands of city dwellers have been enduring immense suffering due to the halt of activities at the Nagar Bhaban and other DSCC zonal offices since May 15.
鈥楽ervices will be suspended by locking Nagar Bhaban and zonal offices until Ishraque becomes mayor,鈥� said Arifuzzaman Prince, general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Shramik Karmachari Union of DSCC.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a petition seeking a stay on the Election Commission鈥檚 April 27 gazette notification that declared BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation in place of AL leader Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, in compliance with a lower court verdict issued on March 27.
The petition was filed by Supreme Court lawyer and Dhaka South resident Mamunur Rashid, who is seeking leave to appeal against a High Court order that dismissed his writ petition on May 22.
On May 22, the High Court ruled that Mamunur lacked the legal standing to bring the case, as he was not a contestant in the 2020 DSCC mayoral election in which Sheikh Taposh was elected as mayor.
Chamber judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque fixed the hearing date after receiving the petition, which challenges both the legality of the gazette and the lower court directive that compelled the Election Commission to issue it.
Earlier in the morning, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives said that it had been awaiting a court order regarding the swearing-in of BNP leader Ishraque Hossain as the DSCC mayor.
鈥楾oday, the Law Wing of the Local Government Division at the Bangladesh Secretariat has said that, following the High Court鈥檚 dismissal of the writ petition against Ishraque鈥檚 swearing-in as mayor on May 22, the LGD took overall preparations for the process,鈥� said a press release issued by the ministry on Tuesday.
On May 25, Ishraque himself filed a writ petition through his lawyer in the High Court seeking his oath as DSCC mayor, and, on May 26, a leave-to-appeal petition was filed in the Appellate Division on behalf of a citizen against the High Court order of dismissal of his writ against Ishraque鈥檚 swearing-in as a mayor, it said.
鈥楢s a result, the matter is now pending in the highest court. So, the LGD is waiting for the court鈥檚 decision about Ishraque鈥檚 oath-taking,鈥� it added.
After the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, the interim government declared the DSCC mayoral office vacant on August 19.
