SC rule on JP chief: Quader can’t perform his party duties till Jan 9

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader cannot perform functions of his post till January 9.

The Appellate Division of the SC, however, ordered the lower court concerned to hear and dispose of the case filed in this connection by that day.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after disposing of a petition filed by Ziaul Haque Mridha, former JP lawmaker and adviser to JP chairman, challenging a High Court order that permitted Quader to carry out his duties as the party chairman.

The two other judges of the bench are Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim.

The court's ruling bars Quader from performing his duties as the JP chief till January 9, Mridha's lawyer Mohammad Sayeed Ahmed Raza told The Daily Star.

Quader's lawyer Sheikh Muhammed Serajul Islam, however, said he cannot make any comment without reviewing the full text of the order.

Earlier on October 31, a Dhaka court issued an injunction barring Quader from taking any political decision regarding the party after Mridha, who was removed from the party on September 17, filed a case against him on October 4.

On November 16, the same court sustained the injunction order.

Following a revision plea by Quader, the HC on November 29 permitted him to carry out his duties by staying the lower court's embargo until January 3.

On November 30, the SC chamber judge stayed HC's order and sent the petition to the full bench for further hearing.