BCB election: SC chamber judge stays HC order on president’s councillorship letter

The Supreme Court chamber judge on Monday stayed, until September 28, a High Court order that had suspended the effectiveness of a letter from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam Bulbul, directing district and divisional sports associations to nominate councillors from ad-hoc committees for the upcoming board election.

Chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the SC Justice Farah Mahbub passed the stay order following a petition filed by the ministry of youth and sports challenging the HC order. Barrister Mahin M Rahman represented the BCB during the hearing.

The apex court chamber judge also adjourned hearing of the matter till September 28, additional attorney general Md Arshadur Rauf told The Daily Star.  

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Earlier in the day, four individuals -- ABM Monjurul Alam Dulal from Rajbari, Josimuddin Khan Khosru from Gopalganj, Moyeen Uddin Chowdhury from Laxmipur and AKM Ali Imam Tapan from Tangail -- had submitted a writ petition challenging the legality of the letter sent by the BCB president.

In the petition, the petitioners prayed to the HC to stay the operation of the letter issued on September 18, in which the regional associations that nominated councillors from outside of the ad-hoc committees were told to re-submit their nominations for the draft list.

The petitioners claimed that the BCB president had no authority to reject the nominated councillors as an election commission for the polls was already formed on September 7. They also claimed that 53 of the 72 nominations were getting cancelled because of it.

The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Bishwajit Debnath ordered a stay for 15 days on the operation of the letter and also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government and the BCB to explain in 10 days why the letter should not be declared illegal.

Lawyers Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal and Md Rafiqul Islam appeared for the petitioners while additional attorney general Md Arshadur Rauf and deputy attorney general Abdullah Al Mahmud Masud represented the state during the hearing.

On August 21 last year, the ministry of youth and sports dissolved the executive committees of all divisional, district and upazila sports associations after the fall of the Awami League regime in the face of a student-led people's movement.

On August 27, NSC issued an outline on how a seven-member ad-hoc committee would be formed for the associations. Since then, it has been approving ad-hoc committees in regular intervals, which are running these regional sports bodies.

Ahead of the BCB polls, the NSC had sent out letters to district and divisional sports associations to nominate councillors for the election within September 17.

The BCB first pushed back the deadline to September 18, then again to the 21st.

The BCB polls is scheduled on October 6.