DHAKA: Reinstatement of 85 sacked election officers got stalled as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Tuesday stayed for six weeks the Administrative Appellate Tribunal order that declared illegal the termination of their jobs.

Chamber judge SK Sinha of the Appellate Division also sent the petitions to the regular bench of the court for hearing.

Attorney-General Mahabub-e-Alam, Dr. Shadin Malik and advocate Salahuddin Dolon placed four leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the government seeking order of stay on the Administrative Appellate Tribunal’s verdict.

Sources said the recruitment of 85 election officers, who were appointed during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government, was cancelled on September 3, 2007 during the last caretaker government’s reign.

The election officers filed a case with administrative appellate tribunal challenging the cancellation of their recruitment.

The tribunal in a verdict on April 12 this year declared the firing of those upazila election officers “illegal”.

On May 17, the EC reinstated them as per this verdict.

The High Court on May 20 stayed for a month the Election Commission’s action reinstating the 85 as upazila election officers in response to a public-interest litigation filed by one Matiar Rahman Hawlader of Barisal.

The government filed four leave-to-appeal petitions against the order on July 10.

BDST: 06:38 Hrs, June 29, 2010.