The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule upon the concerned government bodies to explain why the decision on suspending Mohammad Zahangir Alam from the post of Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) Mayor should not be declared illegal.
Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Secretary, Law Secretary, Gazipur Deputy Commissioner and other respondents have been asked to comply with the rule within two weeks.
The High Court bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed challenging the legality of the government decision that suspended Alam.
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) suspended Zahangir Alam from the post of the Gazipur City Corporation Mayor on different allegations on November 25 last year. Challenging the decision he filed a writ petition with the High Court recently.
Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud and Barrister Belayet Hossain appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioner, while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state.
It was alleged that speaking at a programme in September 2021 Zahangir made some ‘controversial’ remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the number of Liberation War martyrs. Its video footage went viral on social media.
Zahangir was expelled from the party in the meeting of the central executive committee of Awami League on November 19 last year. An allegation of violating party discipline was brought against him. He was the general secretary of Gazipur City unit Awami League.