HC stays govt suspension of Gazipur mayor

MA Mannan, Mayor of Gazipur

Two days after his suspension, the High Court yesterday cleared the way for BNP-backed Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) Mayor MA Mannan to resume his duties.

This is nothing new for most of the BNP-backed City Corporation mayors as Local Government Division has been suspending them followed by the court scrapping the suspension orders and reinstating them.

On Thursday, Local Government Division suspended Mannan for the third time due to a Gazipur court accepting the charge sheet in a corruption case filed against him by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

But yesterday, the High Court stayed the government's suspension order for three months. 

The HC also stayed the government order that appointed Ashadur Rahman Kiron as panel mayor of the GCC for the next three months and directed the authorities concerned to allow Mannan to continue his office as elected mayor of GCC.

The bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan came up with the order and rule after hearing a writ petition filed by MA Mannan challenging the legality of his suspension order.

The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain why its suspension order on Mannan should not be declared illegal, Mannan's lawyer, Advocate Abu Hanif, told The Daily Star.  

Meanwhile, the attorney general's office sources said the government will move and appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the HC order.

On July 6, Mannan was suspended from his mayoral post as a Gazipur court accepted charges brought against him in connection with a corruption case. Local Government Division issued the suspension order for the third time.

Mannan yesterday filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the legality of his suspension order saying that the government has suspended him out of malafide intention. In the petition, he prayed to the HC to stay his suspension order and the appointment of Asadur Rahman Kiron as GCC's panel mayor.

After two and a half years, Mayor Mannan resumed office on June 18 after the SC on May 31 paved the way for him to discharge his duty.

Mannan, who was elected GCC mayor on July 6, 2013, performed his duty for only some 18 months as he was accused in 30 cases and had been in jail for the rest of the time. He had earlier also been suspended twice. Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon appeared for Mannan.