Petition challenges provision for independents

A writ petition was filed with the High Court today challenging the legality of the provision that requires an independent candidate to collect signatures from one percent voters of a constituency in order to contest the national election.

Raihan Kawsar, a Supreme Court lawyer, submitted the petition as a public interest litigation to the HC also seeking stay on the operation of Article 12(3a)(a) of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972, requiring an independent candidate to produce a document containing signatures of one percent of electors of the constituency concerned.

Citing the petition, advocate Md Yousuf Ali, the counsel for the petitioner, told The Daily Star that signing of a written document by the voters and Election Commission scrutinising the truthfulness of the signatures tantamount to an open ballot paper which can no way be the character of democracy.

Article 12(3a)(a) of the RPO is breaching the right to democracy as well as the right to privacy of the citizens and creating impediments for smooth practice of democracy which is the basic structure of our constitution, he said.

Therefore, the article is liable to be declared unconstitutional as it is against the spirit and practice of democracy, he said.

Yousuf Ali said he will try to move the petition before a HC bench tomorrow