The Supreme Court today upheld a previous HC order that stayed the suspension of Gazipur City Corporation mayor MA Mannan over criminal charges.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed no order on an appeal filed by Gazipur city's panel Mayor Asaduzzaman Kiron against the HC order.

There is no legal bar for Mannan to discharge duties as the mayor of Gazipur city following the apex court's order, Abu Hanif, a lawyer for Mannan told reporters after the verdict.

The government suspended Mannan over charges of criminal offence brought against him. Later, on April 11, the High Court had stayed the government's suspension order.

Mannan currently stands with charges of an arson attack on a bus in Gazipur city on February 4 last year. A local court has accepted the charges pressed from Joydebpur Police Station.

He was arrested in the capital on February 11 last year.