United News of Bangladesh

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday cancelled the candidature of BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury, who was unofficially declared elected from the Chattogram-4 constituency in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election, on the ground of loan default. The verdict, delivered by a four-member bench headed by the Chief Justice, means the election result for the constituency cannot be gazetted, effectively preventing Aslam from taking oath as a member of parliament. The apex court had concluded hearings on June 15 and fixed June 30 for delivering its judgment. Senior lawyers Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Miftah Uddin Chowdhury represented Aslam Chowdhury, assisted by Advocate Rokon Uddin Md Faruk. Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal appeared for the state, while Senior Advocate Kamal Ul Alam represented Bank Asia PLC. Earlier, on June 20, the Appellate Division appointed two senior lawyers M Kamrul Haque Siddique and Probir Neogi as amicus curiae (friends of the court) to assist the court during the hearing over Aslam's candidature. The legal dispute began after the Returning Officer declared Aslam's nomination paper valid on January 3. Subsequently, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Anwar Siddiqui and Bank Asia PLC challenged the decision before the Election Commission, alleging that Aslam was a loan defaulter. On January 18, the Election Commission rejected the appeals, allowing Aslam's candidature to stand. The decision was then challenged separately before the High Court, which dismissed both writ petitions on January 27, enabling the BNP leader to contest the election. Aslam contested the February 12 parliamentary election as the BNP candidate from Chattogram-4 and was unofficially declared elected. However, publication of the official result was suspended following an earlier order of the Appellate Division. On February 3, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal against the High Court verdict following a petition filed by Jamaat candidate Anwar Siddiqui. The court ordered that if Aslam won the election, publication of the result would remain suspended until the appeal was finally disposed of. Following the leave order, separate appeals were filed on March 31. The Chamber Judge's Court later referred the matter to the regular Appellate Division bench for hearing on April 28, and the case subsequently appeared on the court's cause list several times before the final hearing. Meanwhile, Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal said that if a fresh election is held in the Chattogram-4 constituency, there would be no legal bar to Aslam Chowdhury contesting the polls.