HC questions legality of Faruque’s removal from office of BCB president

The High Court today issued a rule questioning the legality of the National Sports Council's (NSC) decisions to remove Faruque Ahmed from the post of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president and appoint Aminul Islam Bulbul as his successor.

In the rule, the court asked the authorities concerned of the government and NSC to explain why the NSC's decisions should not be declared illegal.

The HC, however, issued an order of status quo on the functioning of BCB.

The HC order means that the current BCB led by Bulbul as its president will continue running functions, Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque and BCB's lawyer Barrister Mahin M Rahman told The Daily Star.

The HC bench of Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Shathika Hossain issued the order and rule following a writ petition filed by former BCB president Faruque Ahmed challenging the NSC's decisions to remove him from the post of BCB president and appoint Bulbul as his successor.

Earlier on June 2, another HC bench refused to pass any order on the same writ petition and dropped the petition from its cause list after hearing arguments from the parties concerned.

Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared for former BCB president Faruque, while Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque represented NSC. Barrister Nasir Uddin Ahmed Ashim, Barrister Mahin M Rahman and Barrister Saleh Akram Samrat stood for BCB and Bulbul during hearing today.

On June 1, Faruque filed the writ petition challenging the legality of the NSC's decision to remove him and appoint Bulbul as the new BCB president. He also sought a stay order on the move.

Bulbul was elected BCB president on May 30, a day after the NSC revoked Faruque's directorship following a vote of no confidence by a majority of the board's directors and a review of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) fact-finding committee's report.

With his election, Bulbul became the 17th president of the BCB and only the second former cricketer – after Faruque – to hold the position.