BERC chairman's appointment illegal: HC

The High Court has declared the appointment of Syed Yusuf Hossain as chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), and his holding this office illegal and unconstitutional
An HC bench delivered the judgement on Thursday following on a writ petition that challenged the legality of the appointment of Syed Yusuf Hossain, a former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of the country, and his holding the office of BERC chairman.
The bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Naima Haider came up with the verdict observing that Syed Yususf Hossain, who earlier held the post of CAG, which is constitutional post, was not eligible for the office of BERC chairman, since this office is service in the republic.
Petitioner's counsel Advocate Dr Shahdeen Malik told The Daily Stat that he expected Syed Yusuf Hossain to stop all his activities and using any privilege and remuneration chairman of BERC from February 24 following the HC verdict.
Syed Yusuf Hossain was appointed chairman of BERC for three years on October 11, 2009, and he joined the office on October 13 of that year.
Taslim Uddin Ahmed, chairman of private organisation Law and Development Bangladesh, later in that month filed the writ petition as public interest litigation challenging the legality of the appointment of Yusuf. Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam appeared for Yususf.