The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to explain the legality of incorporating a provision for appointing an administrator to run affairs of each of the 61 Zila Parishads until fresh elections to the local government body.
The High Court coincided with the appointment of Zila Parishad chairs as the administrators of the highest local government body in districts on Wednesday.
Jatiya Sangsad amended Section 82 of the Zila Parishad Act 2000 making the provision amidst opposition from Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party lawmakers as well as most of the other political parties, Zila Parishad chairs and members and civil society members.
The amendment came into effect through a gazette notification on April 17.
The court also asked the government to explain the legality of the gazette notification issued by the Local Government Division vesting the administrative and financial power of the Zila Parishads to the chief executive officer of the local government body.
The cabinet secretary, the local government and public administration senior secretaries, the law secretary, the Zila Parishad Wing deputy secretary, the Brahmanbaria deputy commissioner and the chief executive officer of Brahmanbaria were asked to reply to ruling in four weeks.
The bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Brahmanbaria Zila Parishad member Md Babul Miah, also the Bangladesh Zila Parishad Members’ Association president.
The petitioner’s lawyer Mohammad Bakir Uddin Bhuiyan argued that handing over charges from the elected representatives of Zila Parishads to the new elected representatives should be followed like the other elected representatives of the other local government bodies.
