The Supreme Court has deferred the Bangladesh Bar Council election until August 26.
Responding to a writ petition filed by the council authorities, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha issued the order and asked the authorities to publish the voter list by July 30. The court set August 3 as deadline for resolving any dispute over the voters’ list.
It also ordered voters to carry their national identity cards or passport while casting votes.
Earlier on May 28, fixing the polls date on August 13, the court had asked the attorney general, who is the council’s chairman, and the council’s secretary to review the voter list and update the list by July 12.
Yesterday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam pleaded to the court for more time.
The election was first scheduled on May 20, as per an announcement on March 25, and the authorities published a list of 48,465 voters on April 9. But five members of the council and 101 lawyers claimed that the voters’ list was vague as it had repetition of names. Later the voting day was shifted to May 27.
