The Appellate Division has upheld a High Court order declaring invalid the nomination of Jatiya Party candidate Manjum Ali for the Rangpur-1 constituency due to a dual citizenship issue.
Following the ruling, he has been disqualified from contesting the upcoming 13th parliamentary election.
A bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury pronounced the judgment on Tuesday.
Senior advocates Ahsanul Karim, Mohammad Hossain Lipu, Syed Mamun Mahbub, and Shameem Haider Patwary represented Manjum Ali, while senior lawyer Barrister Bodruddoza Badal appeared on behalf of BNP candidate Mokarram Hossain Sujan.
Barrister Badal said that the High Court had previously declared Manjum Ali’s nomination for the Rangpur-1 seat (comprising Gangachara and wards 1–9 of the Rangpur City Corporation) illegal on 21 January.
The High Court passed the order following a writ petition filed by Sujan, a candidate for the same constituency. He had challenged a prior decision by the Election Commission (EC).
The legal dispute originated on 1 January during the scrutiny of nomination papers, when the Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur, Enamul Ahsan, cancelled Manjum Ali’s candidacy because he had disclosed dual citizenship in his affidavit. He subsequently appealed to the EC to regain his candidacy.
Although his nomination was initially rejected again during the first round of the appeal hearing, the commission declared it valid on 17 January, the eighth day of hearings, following a reconsideration application.
With Manjum Ali’s disqualification finalized by the apex court, the valid candidates remaining for the parliamentary seat include Sujan (BNP), Raihan Siraji (Jamaat-e-Islami), ATM Golam Mostafa (Islami Andolan), Al Mamun (NCP), Hanifur Rahman (Gono Odhikar Parishad), Ahsanul Arefin (Socialist Party of Bangladesh–Marxist), Md Anas (Islamic Front), and Md Mominur Rahman (Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish).
