HC rejects Khoka's status quo petition

The High Court yesterday rejected a petition submitted by former Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka seeking a status quo, allowing him and DCC representatives to continue holding offices.
The court ruled that the petition became ineffective after two administrators were appointed for the two DCC administrations.
The HC bench of Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after hearing arguments from petitioner's counsel and the attorney general.
Parliament on November 29 last year passed a bill to split DCC, ignoring widespread criticism and protest.
Following Khoka's writ petition on November 30, an HC bench of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif issued a rule upon the government and Election Commission to explain why the bill should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
Though Justice Farid, senior member of the bench, issued the status quo order, allowing Khoka and the councillors to continue holding office for two more months, Justice Sheikh did not.
The chief justice then sent the matter to the bench of Justice Hasan for disposal.