The High Court has dismissed a writ petition seeking to stop BNP leader Ishraque Hossain from taking oath as Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). With this verdict, Ishraque now faces no legal barrier to assuming office, according to his legal team.
However, the petitioner's lawyer has announced plans to file an appeal with the Appellate Division of Supreme Court, aiming to suspend the Election Commission's gazette that declared Ishraque as mayor.
Senior lawyer Mohammad Hossain told reporters on Thursday that they will approach the Appellate Division on Sunday to seek a stay on the gazette notification.
Earlier, the writ petition contested the legality of the gazette and requested a court order to halt the oath ceremony. After two hearings on Tuesday, the High Court scheduled its decision for Wednesday at 12:30 pm. During the hearing, lawyers AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Kaiser Kamal, and Deputy Attorney General Mahfuzur Rahman Milon argued for the writ's dismissal.
In response, lawyer Mohammad Hossain, representing the petitioners, pointed out several "errors" in the ruling of the Election Tribunal and urged the court to issue a show-cause notice.
According to Khokon and Kamal, only the actual party to the case in this instance, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh could challenge the tribunal's decision. A third party, such as a lawyer acting independently, cannot bring the matter to the High Court. Therefore, they argued, the writ petition was inadmissible.
The DSCC election took place on February 1, 2020, where BNP's Ishraque Hossain lost to Awami League's Taposh by nearly 200,000 votes. However, following the fall of the Awami League government in July 2024, a political shift led to a fresh verdict on March 27, 2025. Dhaka's First Joint District Judge and Election Tribunal Judge Md Nurul Islam nullified Taposh's victory and declared Ishraq the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
On April 22, the Election Commission sought legal advice from the Law Ministry regarding publication of the new result. Five days later, on April 27, the Commission issued a gazette officially naming Ishraque as the new mayor of DSCC.
That same day, two individuals Rafiqul Islam and Mamunur Rashid issued legal notices challenging the tribunal's ruling and the gazette, demanding that Ishraque be prevented from taking the oath.
Their lawyer argued that the tribunal acted hastily and bypassed proper procedures. "We expected the Election Commission to challenge the verdict, but they didn't," he said. "Even the law advisor admitted the gazette was issued without waiting for the Law Ministry's opinion. The tribunal has no authority to pass orders without enforceability, especially since the mayor's term has already ended and the office was vacated by ordinance."
