The full bench of the Appellate Division on Wednesday cleared the way for the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union elections, scheduled for September 9, by upholding its chamber judge’s earlier stay on a High Court order that had halted the polls.
The seven-member bench led by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed affirmed chamber judge Justice Farah Mahbub’s September 1 stay order.
The court ruled that the suspension of the DUCSU election would remain stayed until October 30, pending further hearing.
The Appellate Division issued the ruling on Wednesday after hearing a provisional leave-to-appeal petition filed by Dhaka University authorities, challenging the High Court’s September 1 order.
The decision came after nearly two hours of arguments in a packed courtroom.
Wednesday was the ninth day of the DUCSU election campaign.
The main issue debated was whether the writ petition, filed by a DUCSU candidate challenging the eligibility of SM Farhad from the Islami Chhatra Shibir panel, was legally maintainable. Another debate was whether Farhad was a leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League, now a banned organisation.
The writ petition was filed by BM Fahmida Alam, a candidate from the leftist panel Aparajeyo 71 – Adamya 24, alleging Farhad’s past affiliation with Chhatra League.
She submitted a 2022 BCL official pad listing Farhad as a joint general secretary of its Social Welfare and Research Institute unit. It was signed by former BCL president Sanjit Chandra Das and general secretary Saddam Hossain.
On September 1, the High Court ordered the suspension of the election and asked the DUCSU election tribunal to investigate the claim. It also issued a rule asking why Farhad’s candidacy should not be cancelled and why he should not be disqualified from contesting or voting. The High Court on the day set October 30 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Later that day, DU lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir submitted a handwritten petition to Justice Farah Mahbub, who stayed the High Court order on the same day, September 1.
Appearing for petitioner Fahmida, lawyer Ahsanul Karim told the court that his client did not seek to stop the election but wanted an inquiry into Farhad’s alleged BCL ties.
He argued that BCL leaders—blamed for violent suppression of the July 2024 student uprising—should be barred from participating.
He also claimed that two independent candidates linked to BCL had already been disqualified by dormitory investigations, but Farhad’s candidacy remained intact.
Karim said Fahmida had submitted both a verbal complaint and a legal notice to the university, but received no response.
On Wednesday, the High Court bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Foyej Ahmed adjourned until today the hearing of a writ petition filed by Md Zulias Cizar Talukder, who was among the two independent vice president candidates whose candidatures were cancelled and names deleted from voter list on the allegation that he was a leader of banned student organization Chhatra League.
Zulias also sought directives to allow him in the polls and include his name in the voter the list.
His candidature was cancelled and his name was subsequently dropped from the voter list following a complaint lodged by Salimullah Muslim Hall house tutor and assistant returning officer.
He claimed that he was denied the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations.
In response, university lawyer Shishir Manir argued in the Appellate Division that the BCL document used in the petition lacked official authentication and originated from social media.
He said that the petitioner bypassed the DUCSU tribunal process and brought the matter straight to the High Court, indicating an intention to derail the elections.
Farhad’s counsel, Imran A Siddiq, said that any formal challenge to his client’s candidacy could still be submitted to the vice-chancellor within three days of the election results.
The candidates on Wednesday continued their campaign on the campus seeking votes for themselves and their panels in a festive mode for the ninth day.
They distributed leaflets among the voters and conveyed their plans and pledges to the voters.
Meghmallar Bose-led Pratirodh Parshad panel’s assistant general secretary candidate Jabir Ahmad Jubel, during his campaign at the VC Chattar, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that he pledged the voters to take the initiative to include the date of DUCSU elections in the university’s academic calendar.
DUCSU elections’ chief returning officer Mohammad Zashim Uddin, at a press briefing at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building in the afternoon, said that candidates had demands regarding the closure of classes and examinations on the immediate dates of the elections.
‘We have taken initiatives regarding the demand. Discussions between the university administration and the election commission are going on,’ said Zashim.
He also added that the special task force for the elections would take strict actions against the students involved in cyber-bullying.
In another press briefing in the evening, he announced that all classes and examinations on the election day on September 9 would be suspended while regular academic activities would continue on September 8 and 10.