No bar to holding DUCSU election

The Appellate Division has upheld the Chamber Court’s order suspending a High Court directive that had halted the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election.

As a result, there is now no legal bar to holding the election on 9 September.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed issued the order on Wednesday, following a hearing on the Dhaka University authorities’ appeal against the High Court’s suspension order.

The Chamber Court’s suspension will remain in effect until 30 October.

Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir, who represented Dhaka University in the hearing, confirmed that Wednesday’s decision cleared the way for the DUCSU polls to proceed as scheduled.

Earlier, on Monday, the High Court had suspended the election process and final voter list of DUCSU until 30 October, effectively halting the 9 September polls.

That same day, the Dhaka University authorities filed an appeal with the Appellate Division’s Chamber Court seeking a stay.

The Chamber Court suspended the High Court’s order until a regular Civil Miscellaneous Petition was filed.

On Tuesday, the DU authority submitted the petition, which was placed before the Chamber Court and later scheduled for a full hearing in the Appellate Division on Wednesday.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, Dhaka University’s petition was heard as the first item on the cause list.

The DU was represented by lawyers Mohammad Shishir Monir and Mohammad Saddam Hossain.

Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim and Jyotirmoy Barua appeared for the writ petitioner, while senior lawyer Imran A Siddique represented SM Farhad, a candidate for the General Secretary (GS) post.

According to the election schedule, voting in the DUCSU election will be held on 9 September.

SM Farhad, president of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir at Dhaka University, is contesting the GS post from the “Oikoboddho Shikkharti Jote,” a panel backed by Shibir.

On 28 August, BM Fahmida Alam, a leftist alliance candidate for Liberation War and Democratic Movement Secretary in the DUCSU election, filed a writ challenging Farhad’s candidacy.

She argued that his nomination violated the DUCSU constitution because of his affiliation with a banned organisation.

Following a preliminary hearing on Monday, the High Court issued a rule asking as to why the approval of Farhad’s candidacy should not be declared unlawful.

The court also instructed Fahmida Alam to submit a formal complaint to the university’s Election Tribunal within 15 days, along with supporting evidence regarding Farhad’s alleged Chhatra League membership.

The court ordered the tribunal to investigate the complaint, take testimony from the petitioner, Farhad, and other credible witnesses, and submit a report to the High Court by 21 October.

Apart from the Chhatra Shibir-backed panel, student organisations including Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, and Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad have fielded separate panels.

Left-leaning student organisations have been contesting the election under two panels. In total, there are about 10 panels contesting.

This year, 471 candidates are vying for 28 DUCSU posts, including 62 women candidates.

The member posts attracted the highest number of contestants, with 217 candidates. Across 18 residential halls, a total of 1,035 candidates have been confirmed for 13 hall union elections.