Staff Reporter :
The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday rejected an appeal petition filed by Kader Siddiqui against High Court (HC) order which declared his nomination in the Tangail-4 Constituency by-polls illegal.
Full bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order after hearing the petition, said Advocate Yasin Khan, Counsel for the Election Commission. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam took part in the hearing on behalf of the State, Senior Advocate A J Mohammad Ali and Barrister Ragib Rouf Chowdhury stood for Kader Siddiqui while Yasin Khan appeared on behalf of the Election Commission.
In view of a controversial speech, Awami League MP of Tangail-4 Abdul Latif Siddique was forced to resign from his post on September 1, 2015. Later the Election Commission fixed November 10, 2015 for holding the by-polls.
However, a Returning Officer on October 13, 2015 cancelled the nomination paper of Kader Siddiqui on loan default charges. Later Kader appealed to the Election Commission against the decision, but it was rejected on October 18, 2015.
Then he filed an writ petition with the HC challenging the Election Commission’s decision. But the HC okayed the EC’s decision after hearing the petition.
On February 25, 2016, he filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the SC against the High Court order. On March 15, 2016, the SC Appellate Division allowed him to file the appeal petition. At last, His final legal battle ended with the Appellate Division’s verdict on Wednesday.
