Writ seeks HC stay on DNCC by-polls

A Supreme Court lawyer today filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking stay on the process for holding elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral post and in the 36 new wards under the two Dhaka city corporations slated to be held on February 28.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond submitted the petition as a public-interest-litigation to the HC saying that the legal tangles over the demarcation of many wards of the DNCC and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) have not been resolved.

In the petition, he challenged the legality of the schedule announced by the Election Commission (EC) for holding the elections to DNCC mayoral post and in the 36 new wards under DNCC and DSCC on February 28.

The lawyer in the writ petition prayed to the HC to issue a rule asking the EC and the government to explain why the election schedule issued by the EC on January 22 for holding elections to DNCC mayoral post and in the 36 new wards under DNCC and DSCC without resolving the demarcation tangles should not be declared illegal.

Advocate Eunus told The Daily Star that the HC may hold hearing on the writ petition on next Sunday.

Earlier on January 16, the HC lifted its earlier orders of staying the process for holding the elections, which cleared the way for DNCC by-election and polls in the 36 new wards under the two Dhaka city corporations.

The by-polls to the DNCC mayoral post and the elections to 36 councillor posts in the 36 new wards -- 18 in DNCC and 18 in DSCC -- had earlier been scheduled to be held on February 26, 2018.

The DNCC mayoral post fell vacant with the death of Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017.

Following three separate writ petitions, the HC issued three rules on January 17 and 18 last year asking the government and the EC to explain why the schedule for holding the by-polls to the DNCC mayoral post and elections in the new wards in DNCC and DSCC should not be declared illegal.

It had also stayed the election schedule.