Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Sunday rejected a writ petition that challenged legality of Article 70 of the Constitution, which deals with the cancellation of membership of a lawmaker for voting against own political party in the Parliament.
The HC bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order saying that the court cannot interfere in the Article 70 of the Constitution as this provision has been incorporated in the original constitution of 1972. The Parliament members are elected from the political parties under their political manifesto and people elect them as per their political manifesto. So, the members of the Parliament cannot vote against their political parties, the court observed.
The court also said, the writ petition is not acceptable as there are no substances in the petition.
According to Article 70, a lawmaker has to vacate his or her seat if he or she votes in the Parliament against his/her own party.
“A person elected as a Member of Parliament at an election in which he was nominated as a candidate by a political party shall vacate his seat if he- (a) resigns from that party; or (b) votes in Parliament against that party; but shall not thereby be disqualified for subsequent election as a Member of Parliament,” said the Article 70.
On January 15, a two-judge HC bench gave a split order on the same petition.
On that day, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, Senior Judge of the two-member HC bench, issued a rule on the government, asking as to why the article should not be declared unconstitutional, while Justice Md Ashraful Kamal, the other judge, summarily rejected the petition.
As per rule, after passing the split order, the HC judges send the petition to the Chief Justice for a decision. Then the Chief Justice assigns another HC bench for its hearing and disposal.
On April 17, 2018, Advocate Eunus Ali Akond, a Supreme Court lawyer, submitted the writ petition with the HC, challenging the legality of Article 70, saying that it is against democracy and contradicts Articles 7, 19, 26, 27, 44, 31 and 119 of the Constitution.
On August 8, 2017, the High Court started hearing on the writ petition.
