The High Court yesterday ordered stopping the process of divided Dhaka City Corporation polls until further hearing today.
It asked Additional Attorney General MK Rahman to inform the Election Commission (EC) and the government of not taking any step for holding the elections until the hearing is over.
The HC's order came during the hearing of a writ petition filed by Asaduzzaman Siddiqui, general secretary of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), yesterday.
Asaduzzaman in the petition sought a stay on holding the DCC elections until completion of the legal procedures.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim yesterday adjourned the hearing after Shahdeen Malik, counsel for the EC, told the court that he will place arguments against the petition today.
During yesterday's hearing, petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told the court that as per sections 27 and 28 of the Local Government (City Corporations) Act 2009, the government has to determine the number of wards of any new city corporation, demarcate the areas of its wards and publish their names and number through a gazette notification before holding election to it.
According to the law, officials have to be appointed from the public servants through a gazette notification for demarcating the areas of the wards of a new city corporation, he said.
He also said the government had not executed the rules of the act, and therefore the EC now cannot hold elections to the new DCC (North and South).
Earlier on Thursday, the counsel served a legal notice on the chief election commissioner to stop the process of holding elections to divided DCC until completion of the legal procedures.