The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a leave-to-appeal petition filed by the Election Commission (EC) seeking stay on the High Court order that halted the process for holding elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) for six months. The chamber court Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foyez Siddique yesterday fixed the date and sent the petition to the full bench of the apex court for its hearing.

The EC on January 31 submitted two separate leave-to-appeal petitions to the SC against the HC order staying the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral by-polls and elections to the posits of councillors in 18 newly added wards and six female councillors from the reserved seats, the Election Commission.

The HC stayed the DNCC mayoral by-polls and elections to the posts of councillors and female councillors on January 17. The polls were scheduled for February 26.

Following the order, country’s leading constitution experts, local government experts, civil society members and politicians blamed lapses of the Election Commission for the court stay on the polls.

They said the commission’s inefficiency and incapability was responsible for the legal problem. The EC failed to plug the loopholes of the law before announcing the election schedule for the DNCC polls, they noted.

Ruling Awami League’s arch rival BNP claimed that the Election Commission, in connivance with the government, rolled the dice so that pleas can be filed with the court seeking a stay on the polls.

Announcement of schedule of the polls keeping legal flaws was the ‘joint venture of the government and the Election Commission to foil the election’, the party said.

On January 17, the bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the interim orders asking the Election Commission and the government to explain in four weeks the legality of the DNCC election schedule announced on January 9. Besides, it issued two rules asking the authorities concerned of the EC and the government to explain in four weeks why the schedule should not be declared illegal.

The respondents include the chief election commissioner, local government and rural development ministry’s secretary and the Dhaka north city acting mayor.