The hearing regarding a stay order on a High Court decision to suspend the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) election until Oct 30 was held at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court at around 11:20am on Wednesday.
However, no one opposed the election itself. Instead, everyone rallied together in favor of holding the election.
Consequently, a full bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered an order, effectively clearing the way for the DUCSU election to be held on 9 September.
Arguments from the university's lawyer
Shishir Manir, the lawyer representing Dhaka University, stated in the hearing that a writ petition was filed in the High Court on 28 August challenging the candidacy of General Secretary (GS) candidate SM Farhad. The writ accused him of being affiliated with the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).
In the meantime, all preparations for the DUCSU election had already been completed. The petitioner, BM Fahmida Alam, is a nominated panel candidate from the left alliance for the position of Secretary of Liberation War & Democratic Movements.
Therefore, she has no personal grievance, and the writ cannot proceed. Manir claimed the writ was filed with malicious intent.
He further argued that claims of Farhad being a part of the BCL in 2022 was never raised to the university authorities. Instead, it was brought up for the first time in court.
The only evidence presented was a photocopy, not an original document or verifiable proof.
In contrast, it was shown that during the July Movement, Farhad was actually the secretary of the Islami Chhatra Shibir's DU unit and played a significant role in anti-discrimination movements.
He added that the panel's current VP candidate Sadiq Qayyum said Farhad was thrown out of his dorm in 2018 for refusing to attend a BCL programme.
Another VP candidate, Abdul Qader, stated that Farhad played a key role in the anti-discrimination movement and served as Shibir's DU unit secretary during that time.
He added that a Chhatra League activist from the Persian department is confusing Farhad from the Institute of Social Welfare with another SM Farhad. They are not the same person.
Manir concluded that a festive atmosphere had already formed around the DUCSU elections and requested that the order allowing the election to go ahead as planned be upheld.
Arguments from the petitioner's lawyer
Lawyer Ahsanul Karim, representing the petitioner, said other candidates have had their candidacy cancelled over similar allegations. Allowing Farhad to contest while others are disqualified is discriminatory.
At this point, the court noted that the claim of Farhad's involvement with Chhatra League is disputed.
Ahsanul Karim replied that it's not disputed. Farhad was on the BCL committee, though he, as a lawyer, could not confirm it definitively. He urged the university to investigate whether Farhad was truly affiliated with the BCL. If not, then Farhad could contest the election.
He emphasised that they are not seeking to halt the election, only a revision to the High Court order and suggesting the university investigate the matter promptly.
Arguments from SM Farhad's lawyer
Farhad's lawyer, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, stated that Farhad has publicly said he never submitted his CV to the BCL and was never involved with them.
A photo that allegedly shows his involvement is from the time he became president of the debate club and is not related to any political activity.
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal submitted a list of student leaders who were active in the July Movement, and SM Farhad was included.
He further stated that a photocopied document claiming Farhad's involvement with BCL was not verified or sourced, adding that the Supreme Court should not accept such unverified documents.
The claim itself is controversial, he added, saying whether Farhad was involved with the BCL is outside the court's jurisdiction.
Moreover, candidates' names were published on each hall's notice board and on the DUCSU website, but no objections were raised against Farhad.
The DUCSU constitution allows for complaints to be made to the Chief Returning Officer, the Election Appeal Board, and even to the Vice-Chancellor. But none of these avenues were used, he said.
The complainant went directly to the High Court, which lacks jurisdiction over such election matters. This writ petition was filed with the intention of excluding Farhad from the election.
According to the DUCSU constitution, any objections to the election can be appealed within three days after the election, but the petitioner did not wait.
Background and developmentsOn Monday, the High Court, after a preliminary hearing on the writ, suspended the DUCSU election process and final voter list, halting the planned election on 9 September.
In response, the university authorities appealed to the Chamber Court, which stayed the High Court's order until a regular Civil Miscellaneous Petition (CMP) was filed. This cleared the way for the DUCSU election.
Following the Chamber Court's decision, the matter was referred to the full bench of the Appellate Division and was heard as a supplementary item.
Several student organisations, including Chhatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir, Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad and various leftist student groups have already announced their own panels for the DUCSU election.
Altogether, about 10 different panels (full and partial) have been declared.
This time, 471 candidates, including 62 female candidates, are contesting 28 posts. The most intense competition is for the position of General Member, with 217 candidates.
Across the university's 18 halls, 1,035 candidates are officially contesting for 13 hall-based posts.
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