Four BNP candidates and one candidate from the Jamaat alliance have filed petitions with the High Court challenging the results of the thirteenth national parliamentary election.
These five new applications have also been accepted for hearing, and directives have been issued to preserve the ballot papers and necessary equipment of the respective constituencies. The single-member Election Tribunal of Justice Md. Zakir Hossain passed the order on Wednesday.
The four BNP candidates are Md Hasan Jafir Tuhin from the Pabna-3 constituency, Md Nabi Ulla from the Dhaka-5 constituency, Syed Mehdi Ahmed Rumi from the Kushtia-4 constituency, and Md Faruk Alam Sarkar from the Gaibandha-5 constituency.
Additionally, Maulana Mamunul Haque, Ameer of Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis and the Jamaat alliance candidate from the Dhaka-13 constituency, has also filed a petition.
Following the election, several defeated candidates from various constituencies have already filed applications with the Election Tribunal alleging irregularities. The High Court has accepted these applications for hearing and directed the preservation of ballot papers and necessary equipment for those constituencies.
According to Section 49 of the Representation of the People Order, there is an opportunity to file applications with the High Court’s Election Tribunal against electoral irregularities within 45 days of the gazette notification of the elected Members of Parliament. Accordingly, hearings on these applications are ongoing in the single bench of Justice Md. Zakir Hossain.
Regarding the jurisdiction of this bench in the cause list of the High Court Division, it is stated: “Election petitions as per the Representation of the People Order, 1972, amended by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001; matters transferred to this bench; and rules, petitions related to the aforementioned subjects will be heard and disposed of.”
