BNP loses 8 candidates after SC, HC orders

The Supreme Court yesterday placed a bar on three upazila chairmen -- all of them BNP-nominated candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election -- from contesting the polls.

Besides, the High Court also stayed the Election Commission's decision that allowed two other incumbent upazila chairmen and four other BNP candidates to run the polls.

Following yesterday's separate orders, BNP nominees Sarkar Badal, Tamiz Uddin, Abdul Muhit Talukder, Khondokar Abu Ashfaq, Morshed Milton, Nadim Mostafa, Afroza Khan and Abdul Hannan have been disallowed to contest in the polls.

The Appellate and High Court Divisions of the SC passed the orders following separate petitions filed by some opponent candidates and the EC.

Tamiz Uddin was nominated for contesting from Dhaka-20 constituency, Abdul Muhit Talukder from Bogura-3, Sarkar Badal from Bogura-7, Khondokar Abu Ashfaq from Dhaka-1, Morshed Milton from Bogura-7, Nadim Mostafa from Rajshahi-5, Afroza Khan from Manikganj-3 and Abdul Hannan from Chandpur-1.

Barrister Shanjid Siddique, a lawyer for Tamiz, told The Daily Star that no incumbent upazila chairman can contest the parliamentary election following three SC orders.

The SC passed the orders based on the argument that the upazila chairman holds the office of profit, he said, adding that if any upazila chairman resigns from the post and if the resignation letter is not accepted, they will not be eligible to contest the general election following the SC orders.

Yesterday, the HC directed the EC to allocate BNP's election symbol “sheaf of paddy” to its candidate Prof Nazrul Islam for Rajshahi-5 constituency.

The court also stayed the returning officer's decision allocating “sheaf of paddy” to BNP's other candidate Nadim Mostafa for the same constituency.

The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the order following a writ petition filed by Nazrul Islam challenging the returning officer's decision.

Nazrul's lawyer Advocate Minhazul Haque Chowdhury told The Daily Star that BNP has nominated his client for contesting the December 30 general election.

But, the returning officer cancelled Nazrul's nomination and allocated “sheaf of paddy” to Nadim Mostafa which is a violation of the Representation of People's Order (RPO), he said, adding that as per the relevant provision of the RPO, a political party can give nomination to a single candidate for a constituency.

The same HC bench yesterday stayed for three months the EC's decision that allowed BNP nominees Khondokar Abu Ashfaq, Morshed Milton, and Abdul Hannan to contest the election.

The bench passed the order following separate writ petitions filed by their opponents citing different grounds, he added.  

Yesterday, the SC upheld an HC order that stayed the EC's decision allowing BNP nominee Afroza Khan to contest the election from Manikganj-3 constituency.