The High Court yesterday questioned the legality of Harun Ur Rashid's parliament membership as the BNP leader has been convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment in a corruption case. 

The court issued a rule asking the respondents to explain in four weeks why the parliamentary seat of BNP lawmaker Harun, who was elected from Chapainawabganj-3 constituency, should not be declared vacant and why his activities as a lawmaker should not be declared illegal.

The law secretary, cabinet secretary, parliament secretary, the Election Commission and its secretary, the Anti-Corruption Commission, deputy commissioner of Chapainawabganj, and lawmaker Harun have been made the respondents.

A regular HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq came up with the rule after a writ petition was filed by Abdul Wadud, a resident of Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila, on August 13.

In the petition, he challenged the legality of Harun serving as a lawmaker.

Petitioner's lawyer Dewan Md Obayed Hossain told The Daily Star that a special judge court in Dhaka on October 21 last year convicted and sentenced Harun to five years' imprisonment for indulging in corruption by selling his duty-free car to a company.

The court also fined him Tk 50 lakh and ordered that he will serve six months more in jail if he did not pay the fine. Harun obtained bail from the HC on October 28 that year, but the court did not stay his conviction, the lawyer said.

Obayed said as per the article 66 (2) of the constitution, if a person is convicted and sentenced to more than two years in prison for moral turpitude, he or she is not eligible to participate in elections in five years after serving the jail term.

The trial court has sent copies of the judgement to the offices concerned of the Jatiya Sangsad and the EC, but they did not declare his parliamentary seat vacant, the lawyer added.