No Bar To Hold DUCSU Polls On 9 September

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the chamber court’s decision, which suspended the High Court order on the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections.

This means there is no legal barrier to holding the DUCSU elections on 9 September as scheduled.

A full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the order on Wednesday (3 September) afternoon after hearing the matter. The hearing began earlier in the day on an appeal filed against the High Court’s verdict that had postponed the DUCSU elections. Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir represented Dhaka University at the hearing.

On Tuesday (2 September), the Supreme Court’s chamber judge had extended until Wednesday morning an earlier order that stayed a High Court directive suspending the DUCSU polls until October 30. Justice Farah Mahbub of the Appellate Division issued the extension following a petition by Dhaka University authorities seeking a stay on the High Court ruling. The chamber court also referred DU’s petition to the regular bench for Wednesday’s hearing.

Earlier, on 1 September, the High Court stayed the DUCSU elections until 30 October. It also directed the university’s election tribunal to resolve issues concerning the political background of SM Farhad, the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed candidate for general secretary, and to submit a report to the court by 21 October.

The directives followed a writ petition filed by BM Fahmida Alam, the Liberation War and Democratic Movements Affairs Secretary candidate from the left alliance panel. The High Court asked Fahmida to submit a complaint with all relevant documents to the election tribunal within 15 days.

In her petition, Fahmida alleged that Farhad was previously involved in the politics of the now-banned Bangladesh Chhatra League.

The High Court bench of Justice Md Habiubul Gani and Justice Md Tahsan Ali issued the order after hearing the writ petition.