No relief for two mayors

The two pro-BNP mayors of Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporations regained their posts through protracted legal battles after a two-year suspension.

But their good times were short-lived.

Rajshahi Mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul and Sylhet Mayor Ariful Huq Chowdhury were all set to rejoin office yesterday.

But the day turned out to be full of dramas over their resumption of responsibilities as people's representatives with the government suspending both once again.

The LGRD ministry served a suspension order on Ariful yesterday, citing that a Sunamganj court on March 22 accepted a charge sheet against him in a case over a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Sunamganj in 2004.

Another suspension order was issued on Bulbul, saying a Rajshahi court accepted charge sheets against him in two cases filed under the Explosive Substances Act.

Both the charge sheets were accepted around two years ago.

Following the Apex Court verdicts in their favour last month, the mayors went to their respective offices yesterday morning.

Sylhet Mayor Ariful was lucky enough to sit in his mayoral chair for a couple of hours, but Rajshahi Mayor Bulbul found his office under lock and key. When he managed to enter the office after a five-hour wait, he was informed within minutes that he had been suspended again.

Apart from the two, Habiganj Municipality Mayor GK Gaus was suspended yesterday for the second time.

Over the last couple of years, a large number of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami-backed mayors, chairmen and vice chairmen were suspended under two specific clauses of the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009. While enforcing the Act, the LGRD ministry's Local Government Division has all along been strict about the elected representatives backed by the BNP and the Jamaat.

According to Section 12 and 13 of the Act, a mayor or a councillor, if convicted or charge-sheeted in criminal cases, can be suspended.

The Act also says any elected representative can be removed from office for skipping three consecutive general meetings without any valid ground.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, local government expert Prof Tofail Ahmed said the decision to suspend the mayors was not a good one.

"Under the 2009 Act, a mayor or a councillor, if convicted or charge-sheeted in criminal cases, can be suspended. But it is not mandatory. It was improper to suspend the mayors on the very day they resumed office following court verdicts.

It was an unwise political decision, he noted.

Tofail pointed out that the ministry actually served the interest of those who discharged the mayoral responsibilities in the absence of the two.

"All are equal in the eye of law. But I think laws are being strictly followed in case of pro-opposition people," he said.

Sylhet Mayor Ariful and Habiganj Municipality Mayor Gaus went through almost similar experience in the last couple of years. 

They were suspended on January 7, 2015 after a Sylhet court accepted charge sheets against them in two cases -- one under the Explosive Substances Act and the other for the killing of former Finance Minister AMS Kibria. 

The two were in jail when the LGRD ministry issued the suspension order. They got bail from the High Court on January 4 this year after spending around two years in prison.

Early last month, Ariful filed a writ petition with the HC, challenging the suspension. The HC on March 13 stayed the suspension for six months.

The government then filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the HC order.

The apex court on March 23 upheld the HC order, clearing the way for Ariful to resume duties as the Sylhet mayor.

Both Ariful and Gaus were again suspended by the ministry yesterday, around 10 days after a special tribunal in Sunamganj accepted the revised charge sheet against them in the case over the grenade attack on a rally of AL leader Suranjit Sengupta in Sunamganj in 2004.

Enamul Habib, chief executive officer of Sylhet City Corporation, told this correspondent that he received the ministry's suspension order around 2:30pm, about three hours after Ariful resumed duty.

Asked, Ariful said, "I could discharge my responsibilities only for a couple of hours after more than two years. I am preparing for a legal battle against the government order. 

"I was shocked by the suspension order, as I got a permanent bail in the case."

Rajshahi Mayor Bulbul had even a tougher day.

He had to wait at the RCC Chief Executive Officer's room for around five hours, as he found his office locked around 10:00am.

Bulbul entered his office, having the door lock broken at about 3:00pm. A few minutes later, ABM Sharifuddin, CEO of the RCC, informed him of the ministry's suspension order.

Contacted, Sharifuddin said, "I don't know who locked the office or when it happened."

Earlier, Bulbul was suspended on May 7, 2015 after courts accepted charge sheets against him in three cases, including one for the murder of police constable Siddhartha Sarker.

Later, Bulbul filed a writ petition with the High Court, challenging the suspension order.

The HC on March 10 last year declared the suspension illegal. The government then moved to the Supreme Court which upheld the HC verdict on March 5 this year.

Yesterday, the LGRD ministry suspended the Rajshahi mayor once again, citing that Rajshahi Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 accepted charge sheets against him in two cases filed more than two years back under the Explosive Substances Act. 

Bulbul, also president of Rajshahi City BNP, is an accused in 17 cases filed over incidents of arson and violence during the anti-government agitation in 2015. Charge sheets in five of the cases have so far been accepted by courts.

Talking to reporters in the afternoon, he said, “I was granted bail in all of the cases against me. The government has violated the Supreme Court order by suspending me. I will again go for legal battle against the government decision.”

Of the 11 city corporations, BNP-backed candidates won mayoral posts in six and AL-backed ones in five cities.

MA Mannan, BNP-backed mayor of Gazipur City Corporation, was suspended on August 19, 2015 after a Gazipur court accepted a charge sheet against him in a case over an arson attack on a passenger bus in the city on February 4 that year.

On November 2, 2015, BNP-supported Khulna City Corporation Mayor Moniruzzaman Moni was suspended after he had been charged with criminal offences. He regained his mayoral post early this year as the HC stayed the suspension order.

According to the LGRD ministry's data, 24 mayors of city corporations and municipalities, 28 upazila chairmen, 13 upazila vice chairmen, and over 150 union parishad chairmen and UP members were suspended till mid-last year, as they were charge-sheeted in different cases, including the ones for arson and murders between 2014 and 2015.

Almost all of them are loyal to either the BNP or the Jamaat.

[Our Rajshahi and Sylhet correspondents contributed to the report]