Sylhet: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday upheld a High Court order that stayed the suspension of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury.

A three‐member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order dismissing a leave‐to‐appeal filed by the state seeking a stay on the High Court order.

Now there is no legal bar for Ariful Haque Choudhury to discharge duties as the mayor of SCC, said his lawyer Barrister Abdul Halim Kafi.

Earlier on 13 March, HC stayed for six months the government order suspending SCC Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury.

On 7 January, 2015, the government suspended Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury as he had been charged with the killing of former Finance Minister SMA Kibria.