Writ petitions filed to delay Dec 18 polls
Attorney General Salauddin Ahmed yesterday told a High Court (HC) bench that writ petitions challenging the Election Commission's (EC) re-demarcation of constituencies were filed to damage the process of holding a free, fair and credible election.
During the hearing on such a petition, the attorney general told the HC bench that the government has pledged to hold the parliamentary election on December 18 to establish an elected government in the country.
The HC yesterday continued the hearing on the writ petition. An HC bench comprised of Justice Mir Hasmat Ali and Justice Shamim Hasnain later adjourned the hearing until Sunday.
The EC re-demarcated constituencies after hearing and disposing of all objections and at this stage the EC's re-demarcation of constituencies cannot be challenged in any court, the attorney general said.
He said the government, the EC and the army have been relentlessly working to hold the election on the announced date. The nation is now on the train to elections but theses petitions were filed with the HC to derail this train, he added.
He said the chief adviser to the caretaker government announced the date for holding the elections and the army chief also said that the elections would be held on December 18 so, there was no confusion in this regard.
Salauddin Ahmed said the elections will have to be held in order to establish democracy, human rights and freedom of the press. He said the government has been working for this.
Earlier in the day, EC's counsel Mahmudul Islam told the court that the EC had completed all legal process before issuing the gazette notification on the re-demarcation of the constituencies.
Giving a number of references from judgments of the Indian Supreme Court, the counsel said the writ petitions cannot go on.
The HC bench on October 22 started hearing on the writ petition.
On May 12, upon the writ petition filed by ABM Nurul Islam, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, the HC issued a rule asking the EC to explain as to why the move to redo the demarcation of constituencies should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
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