A writ petition has been filed in the High Court challenging the election affidavit of the Bhola-4 (Char Fasson-Manpura) constituency Member of Parliament Mohammad Nurul Islam Nayan, alleging that he submitted a fake educational certificate and false information, and seeking the cancellation of his parliamentary seat.
The petition was filed by Abdullah Al Mahmud, a voter in the constituency. A High Court bench comprising Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice SM Iftekhar Uddin Mahmud heard the writ on Tuesday.
Advocating for the petitioner, Advocate Rafsan Alvi informed TIMES on Wednesday that following the initial hearing, the court said a detailed hearing would be conducted later.
Representing the state, Deputy Attorney General Khan Ziaur Rahaman said that the petitioner had applied to the Election Commission on 25 August, and the affidavit for the writ petition was sworn on 31 August.
He noted that the writ was filed without granting the Election Commission time to form an investigation committee. Consequently, the court asked that the Election Commission be given time and directed that the hearing take place after a few days.
In his 25 August application to the Election Commission, the petitioner requested the cancellation of Nayan’s parliamentary membership under Section 91F of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), alleging that voters were deceived through false information and a fake certificate submitted in the electoral affidavit.
According to the writ, Nayan was elected from Parliamentary Constituency No 118, Bhola-4 (Char Fasson-Manpura) under the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) “Sheaf of Paddy” symbol in the 13th National Parliamentary Election held on 12 February 2026.
He currently serves as the general secretary of the Central Committee of Jatiotabadi Juba Dal, an associate organisation of the BNP.
The petition states that Nayan declared a Master of Business Administration (MBA) as his highest educational qualification in his electoral affidavit, submitting a certificate from IBAIS University titled “Master of Business Administration with Major in Management”, showing a CGPA of 3.28 and dated November 2008.
However, the writ claims that upon contacting the IBAIS University authorities, they said that the certificate was fake and was not issued by their university. The petitioner alleges that by providing false educational credentials in his affidavit, Nayan deceived him and lakhs of voters across the constituency.
Furthermore, the writ challenges Nayan’s claims made in various speeches and statements that he obtained Bachelor’s (Honours) and Master’s degrees from the Department of English at Dhaka University, as well as his assertion that he was a resident student of Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall during the 1989-90 academic session.
The petitioner noted that during his student political career, Nayan served as the joint general secretary of Dhaka University Chhatra Dal, later held multiple terms as vice president of the Central Committee of Chhatra Dal, and currently serves as general secretary of the Central Committee of Juba Dal, earning him recognition as a Dhaka University student in political life.
However, the writ claims that Nayan’s name was not found in the records of Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall. Additionally, verification at the Certificate and Marksheet Branch of the Registrar Building at Dhaka University yielded no records of any student named “Mohammad Nurul Islam Nayan, Father: Mohammad Mohiuddin Miah” in the Department of English between 1988 and 1992.
The petitioner maintained that this demonstrates Nayan was never a student at Dhaka University, despite repeatedly using that identity throughout his political career to deceive lakhs of voters in Char Fasson and Manpura.
The writ also points out that Wikipedia contains information regarding Nayan obtaining a Master’s degree from the Department of English at Dhaka University.
The petitioner emphasised that while Dhaka University maintains complete admission and academic records for every student across its residential halls and the Registrar Building’s Marksheet and Certificate Branch, no record of Nayan’s existence as a student was found in either location.
