The verbal spats between the former and incumbent mayors of Dhaka South City Corporation have now turned into a legal battle as the former has been sued for making "defamatory comments" against the latter.

Former DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon vowed to tackle the battle in court and "on the streets".

Two cases were filed against Khokon soon after current DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh yesterday alleged that Khokon made defamatory remarks against him.

Lawyer Md Sarwar Alam lodged a case with the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury, Ripon Mia, a bench assistant of the court, told The Daily Star.

One Kazi Anisur Rahman filed another case with the same court.

After hearings of the cases, the magistrate took the cases into cognisance and recorded statements of the complainants.

The court will pass orders today, Ripon said.

The complainants alleged that Khokon made defamatory comments against Taposh at a human chain in front of the High Court premises on January 9.

According to the case documents, Khokon at the human chain said Taposh had been "talking big" against corruption after becoming the DSCC mayor, but such stories do not suit coming from him.

He said Taposh needs to be free from corruption first to make his administration free from graft.

Taposh transferred hundreds of crores of taka from the DSCC's coffers to Modhumoti Bank, which is owned by the incumbent mayor, Khokon also alleged.

Through the baseless and fabricated comments, Khokon defamed Taposh, the case statements said.

The plaintiffs also appealed to the court to issue an arrest warrant against the accused.

While visiting the sluice gate area in Maniknagar yesterday, Taposh said he thinks that the comments Khokon made against him were defamatory.

"Of course, mayor Khokon made a defamatory comment and I became astonished to hear his speech. He also confessed that he is a small fish in terms of indulging in corruption. As he made a complaint against me, it is a defamatory remark. I must take action against it," Taposh said in reply to a query from a journalist.

After the cases were lodged, Khokon asked, "What is the market value of Taposh's reputation?"

In a press statement, Khokon, also an Awami League leader, made the remarks in reaction to DSCC Mayor Taposh saying that a defamation case would be filed against Khokon.

"I will be aware of that [value of his reputation] after receiving the case documents," Khokon said, adding that apart from the legal battle, issues would be "settled on the streets".

HOW IT STARTED

On December 8 last year, the DSCC demolished several hundred illegal shops at Phulbari Supermarket-2 in Gulistan, which were built violating the main design of the supermarket.

On December 29, former mayor Khokon and six others were sued on charges of embezzlement of Tk 34.89 crore.

Delwar Hossain, president of Traders-Owners Association of the supermarket, lodged the case with the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam.

The six other accused are: Yusuf Ali Sardar, former chief revenue officer of the city corporation, Md Mazed, former deputy assistant engineer of the city corporation, and their assistants Kamrul Hasan, Helena Akter, Atiqur Rahman Swapan and Md Walid.

According to the case statement, Khokon and six others conspired with one another and built shops, violating the main design of the supermarket.

On December 30, a Dhaka court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation to investigate the case and submit a probe report by January 31 this year.

Khokon at the human chain also claimed that incumbent Mayor Taposh was ineligible to continue holding the mayoral post.

He alleged that Taposh transferred hundreds of crores of taka from the DSCC's coffers to Modhumoti Bank, which is owned by the incumbent mayor.

On the other hand, because of shortage of money, poor employees of the DSCC were not being paid their due salaries for months, he further said.

Also, the city corporation's different development projects were halted because of budget shortage, alleged Khokon.

He said that, by committing such acts, Taposh has lost eligibility as mayor under the city corporation law.

In his reaction, Taposh on Sunday told reporters at the Nagar Bhaban that Modhumoti Bank is like any other private bank receiving deposits from government institutions as per rules and regulations.

"There is corruption when someone takes bribes, gets commission and … embezzles government money. The allegation being brought is not an objective opinion," he said.