Appellate Division directs disposal of HC rule over Sarwar Alamgir’s candidacy

The Appellate Division has directed the disposal of the rule issued by the High Court regarding the validity of the candidacy of Sarwar Alamgir, the unofficially winning BNP candidate from the Chattogram-2 constituency (Fatikchhari), in the 13th National Parliament. 

The court on Tuesday ordered that the election results, gazette publication and oath of Sarwar Alamgir will remain suspended until the HC rule is disposed of.

A five-member Appellate Bench led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury passed the order.

Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim represented Sarwar in the hearing, while senior lawyer Shishir Monir represented Jamaat candidate Nurul Amin.

Regarding the matter, lawyer Shishir Monir said, “Before the 13th National Parliament election, on February 3, the Appellate Division directed the Election Commission (EC) to allow BNP candidate Sarwar to participate in the election. However, it directed that the publication of the final election results be suspended until the disposal of the rule issued by the High Court.”

He said  the Appellate Division had now directed the disposal of the rule issued by the HC and instructed that the publication of the final election results remain suspended until the rule is disposed of.

According to the case details, the HC stayed the Election Commission’s order cancelling the candidacy of BNP-nominated candidate Sarwar Alamgir in the Chattogram-2 constituency over allegations of loan default. 

At the same time, he was directed to be allowed to participate in the election. 

Against this, Jamaat candidate Nurul Amin filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division. 

On February 3, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal against the upholding of Sarwar Alamgir’s candidacy. As a result, Sarwar Alamgir was allowed to contest the election. 

However, the Appellate Division directed that the voting results would remain suspended and the election gazette could not be published until the disposal of the HC rule. 

Sarwar Alamgir won the February 12 election, but due to the court order, the results were not published in gazette form.

Later, after winning the election, Sarwar filed two separate applications with the Appellate Division seeking modification of the February 3 directive and instructing the EC to publish the election results and arrange for him to take oath as an elected member of parliament.

After hearing the two applications today, the Appellate Division directed the disposal of the rule issued by the High Court. 

The court ordered that the election results, gazette publication and oath of Sarwar Alamgir will remain suspended until the High Court rule is disposed of.

Sarwar Alamgir won the Chattogram-2 seat by a huge margin. 

According to the unofficially declared results, he received 138,545 votes. 

His nearest rival, Jamaat-nominated scale symbol candidate Nurul Amin, received 62,160 votes.