EC sues Ershad
The Election Commission has filed a case against Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad for not submitting the expense report of his campaign in Lalmonirhat-1 constituency even six months after the January 5 polls.
On Thursday night, Returning Officer Md Habibur Rahman filed the case with Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station under section 74 of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972.
"Police will investigate the matter and submit a report in this connection to the court," Mahfuzur Rahman, officer-in-charge of the police station, told The Daily Star yesterday.
But he did not mention any specific timeframe for submission of the report.
As per electoral law, all contesting candidates have to submit their electoral expenditure statements to the respective returning officers within 30 days of the publication of the election results in the official gazette.
If any candidate violates the law, he/she will face punishment of two to seven years' imprisonment and financial penalties.
Ershad was defeated in the Lalmonirhat-1 constituency by the ruling party candidate Motahar Hossain.
The Jatiya Party chairman had announced that he would boycott the polls just after filing nominations for three constituencies --- Dhaka-17, Lalmonirhat-1, and Rangpur-3.
Then he was hospitalised in a dramatic development.
The EC rejected his application for withdrawal of nominations. It only cancelled his candidature for the Dhaka-17 seat. Ershad won from the Rangpur-3 constituency.
Md Habibur Rahman, who is also the deputy commissioner of Rangpur, filed a similar case against Sadeque Islam, a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal candidate in the polls, for not submitting the expense report of his campaign in the same constituency.
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