Writ filed challenging legality of DU senate meeting

A writ petition was filed on Thursday with the High Court challenging the legality of Dhaka University authorities' decision to hold a senate meeting for electing a three-member panel to appoint a vice-chancellor for the university.

The DU registrar on August 5 issued a letter to the DU senate members asking them to attend the senate meeting on Saturday.

Dhaka University teachers AFM Yusuf Haider, Dr Abdul Aziz and journalist Mahfuz Ullah jointly submitted the petition to the court also praying to impose restriction on holding the senate meeting.

In the petition, the petitioners said 55 posts of senate members, out of 105, are vacant at present.

The election to the posts of registered graduates of DU will be held on September 14, 19 and 28 this year to nominate 25 senate members.

In this situation, holding election to the VC panel is against the DU order 1973, they said in the petition.

According to the order, the senate will be consisted with its all 105 members and all of them will have to take part in the VC panel election.

Writ petitioners' lawyer Barrister Belayet Hossain told The Daily Star that hearing on the petition will be held later in the day if the acting Chief Justice SK Sinha assigned an HC bench for the hearing.