SUCSU Polls Suspended After Court Ruling
Just 20 hours ago, the long-awaited Shajalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) central student union (SUCSU) and hall council elections were suspended by the High Court. The decision followed a writ petition filed by three students of the institution.
According to sources, the petitioners are:
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Md. Mominur Rashid Shuvo, Physics Department, 2018–19 batch, Shah Paran Hall;
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Md. Rokibul Hasan Raton, Mathematics Department, 2020–21 batch, Syed Mujtaba Ali Hall; and
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Habibur Rahman Hasan, Social Work Department, 2020–21 batch, Shah Paran Hall.
Among them, Md. Mominur Rashid Shuvo, a petitioner and independent vice-president candidate, has reportedly been made unwelcome on campus by protesting students.
The petition, filed on 18 January as Writ Petition No. 852 in the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, challenged the validity of a letter issued on 15 January by the Election Commission’s Election Management–2 wing. This letter had granted permission to the university registrar to conduct the SHACSU and hall council elections on 20 January.
On 19 January, during the hearing, the High Court bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md. Asif Hasan suspended the elections for four weeks.
Earlier that day, BNP-aligned faculty members had announced election boycotts citing discomfort in overseeing the polls. Following the court ruling, a section of students blocked the Sylhet-Sunamganj road in protest. The University Teachers’ Link (UTL) branch confirmed in a press conference that they were willing to conduct elections on the scheduled date. However, with the polls postponed, students occupied the administrative building after lifting the gate blockade. The university administration stated that the matter will be reported to the syndicate, which will decide the next steps regarding the elections.
DBTech/ENC/IK/OR
