Nizam Hazari's JS membership legal: HC

The High Court today ruled in favour of Awami League leader Nizam Uddin Hazari while hearing a petition filed challenging the legality of his office at Jatiya Sangsad.

The bench of Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique passed the order.

Earlier, five HC judges refused to hear the same petition after a two-judge bench on December 6, 2016, delivered a split verdict.

Shakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan, a Jubo League leader of Feni, filed the petition as public interest litigation with the HC on June 8, 2014, praying to the court to declare Nizam disqualified for contesting the parliamentary polls and holding the office as a lawmaker because of his alleged forgery in getting an early release from jail in a criminal case.

Quoting a newspaper report, Shakhawat in his petition said a Chittagong court sentenced Nizam to 10 years' imprisonment in an arms case on August 16, 2000. He surrendered to the court on September 14, 2000, and was sent to Chittagong jail to serve his term.

But he was released on December 1, 2005, through fraudulence, Shakhawat said.

Nizam was supposed to be in jail until September 13, 2010, and he, according to the law, was not supposed to be eligible to run in parliamentary polls before September 2015. Nizam provided false information about serving his jail term to the Election Commission, he added.

The HC issued a rule the same day asking the government and the EC to explain why his parliament seat should not be declared vacant.

The office of inspector general of prisons submitted a report to the HC on July 19, 2016 saying that Nizam had suffered in jail around 2.5 years less than he was supposed to serve in the arms case.

During hearing on the petition, petitioner's lawyer Advocate Quamrul Haque Siddique told the court that Nizam cannot hold the post of a lawmaker and he will have to serve in jail if the report of the IG prisons is correct.

Meanwhile, Nizam's lawyers Barrister Shafique Ahmed and Advocate Nurul Islam Sujan opposed the petition saying that their client had served the entire term of the jail sentence and therefore, the petition was not filed for the public interest.