The High Court (HC) on Thursday declared the nomination of BNP candidate Sarwar Alamgir, the winning candidate in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election for Chattogram-2, valid, removing the legal obstacle to the publication of his election result.
The verdict was delivered by an HC bench comprising Justice Fahmida Kader and Justice Md Asif Hasan.
The court dismissed a writ petition filed by the Jamaat candidate challenging the legality of the cancellation of Sarwar Alamgir's nomination.
Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim and Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon represented the writ petitioner, while senior lawyer Shishir Manir and lawyer Azim Uddin Patwari appeared for Jamaat candidate Md Nurul Amin.
Following the verdict, Azim confirmed that the HC had declared Sarwar's nomination valid.
"There is now no legal obstacle to publishing the election result," he said.
Earlier, on 2 July, the HC concluded hearings on the rule and fixed 9 July for delivering its judgment.
After the Returning Officer declared Sarwar's candidature valid, Jamaat candidate Md Nurul Amin appealed against the decision, alleging that he was a loan defaulter.
Following the hearing, the Election Commission cancelled Sarwar's candidature on 18 January. He subsequently challenged the decision by filing a writ petition with the HC.
On 27 January, the HC stayed the Election Commission's order and issued a rule allowing him to contest the election.
Nurul later sought leave to appeal against the HC order before the Appellate Division. On 3 February, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal.
Although Sarwar was allowed to contest the election, the Appellate Division ordered that publication of his election result remain suspended until disposal of the appeal.
Sarwar was declared the winning candidate in the 12 February election, but his result was withheld in compliance with the court's directive.
Following a hearing on Nurul's appeal, the Appellate Division on 16 June directed the HC to dispose of the pending rule as expeditiously as possible, preferably within two weeks.
The Appellate Division also ordered that its directive issued on 3 February would remain in force until the HC disposed of the rule. As a result, publication of Sarwar Alamgir's election result remained suspended.