HC asks EC to accept nomination of K Siddique

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Staff Reporter :
Abdul Kader Siddique, President of the Krishak Sramik Janata League, has remained in the Tangail-4 by-polls race after he got back his candidacy to compete through a High Court (HC) order.
The HC asked the Election Commission (EC) to accept nomination of Kader Siddique. The court issued the order on Wednesday, eight days after the EC declined to accept the nomination.
An HC vacation bench comprising Justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and Justice Qazi M Ejaharul Haque Akand passed the order after hearing on a writ petition filed by
Kader Siddique. The freedom fighter on October 20 filed the writ petition, challenging the legality of the cancellation of his nomination for Tangail by-polls.
Barrister Raghib Rauf Chowdhury, lawyer for Kader Siddique, said that the HC bench asked the EC to allow his client to take part in the by-election. The bench also stayed cancellation orders of Kader Siddique’s nomination, issued by the Chief Election Commissioner and the returning officer.
The Parliamentary seat-133 (Tangail-4) has remained vacant since September 1 after sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique, elder brother of Kader Siddique, quit his Parliament membership following his controversial remarks about Hajj and Prophet Mohammad (sm). Latif Siddique had also been expelled from the AL for the remarks.
On October 11, Kader Siddique, his wife Nasrin Siddique and two other leaders of the party submitted nomination papers to contest the by-election slotted for November 10.
On October 13, the authorities scrapped the nominations of Kader Siddique and his wife on loan default charges. Returning Officer (RO) Mohammad Alimuzzaman said that they scrapped the nominations a day after getting a fax from the Credit Information Bureau of Bangladesh Bank.
According to the fax, Kader Siddique’s firm ‘Sonar Bangla Engineering’ is a loan defaulter for failure to repay the Tk 10.88 crore taken from Agrani Bank. Nasrin Siddique is a director of the organisation.
The Siddique spouses moved the EC against the cancellation of their nominations, but their pleas were rejected after a hearing on October 18. A five-member panel, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, dismissed the appeals.
Kader Siddique said that the state-run Agrani Bank had branded them as loan defaulter in an attempt to sever him from the Tangail-4 by-polls. He said that at last he got back his candidacy to compete in the polls and he hopes to win the polls with a large margin of votes.
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