A Supreme Court lawyer filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking a directive on the Election Commission to defer the date of Dhaka city corporation elections, slated for January 30, as Saraswati Puja will be held on the same day.

Adv Ashoke Kumar Ghosh submitted the petition before the HC on Sunday requesting the court to order the EC to defer the election date for a week.

In the petition, he said that Saraswati Puja, one of the religious festivals of the Hindu community, will take place at almost all the academic institutions in Dhaka city.

Election materials will be set up in the institutions for holding the election. Therefore, the puja will be hampered, which is contradictory to the religious sentiment, he mentioned in the petition.

Ashoke Kumar Ghosh told reporters that the HC may hold hearing on the writ petition any day this week.

On December 22, the Election Commission announced that the elections of Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City will be held on January 30.