Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Thursday questioned legality of the Election Commission’s decision that rejected an application for cancelling the candidacies of 25 Jamaat-e-Islami contenders for the December 30 national election.
The court, however, issued a rule asking the EC and the government to explain in four weeks as to why the EC’s decision allowing the Jamaat men to contest in the election should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench of Justice J B M Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the order after hearing on a petition filed by Bangladesh Tariqat Federation and Amra Muktijoddhar Santan challenging the EC’s 23 December order.
The bench, refused to direct the EC to treat 25 Jamaat men disqualified for contesting in the general election.
The HC order means there is no legal bar on 25 Jamaat men to take part in the election, said Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, a lawyer for the Jamaat men.
Of them, 22 are in the race with BNP’s electoral symbol “Sheaf of Paddy” and three as independent candidates.
Tania Amir appeared for the petitioners while Md Yasin Khan argued for the EC and Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal stood for two of the candidates.
The petition was filed on Wednesday with the HC seeking its directive on the EC to disqualify 25 Jamaat-e-Islami candidates so that they cannot contest in the 11th parliamentary elections.
The petition was filed on the same ground the HC earlier declared Jamaat’s registration with the EC illegal.
After a meeting of the commission, EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said that they had examined the related law and “there is no scope for rejecting the Jamaat leaders’ candidacy at this moment”.
He said Returning Officers accepted and finalised the Jamaat leaders’ nomination papers after no objections were filed with the election tribunal against the Returning Officers’ decisions.
Besides, the ROs also allocated electoral symbol to the Jamaat leaders, he added.
