EC hearing on Latif�s membership
Full SC bench to hear petition Sunday
A full Appellate Division bench will hear on Sunday a petition of former Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Minister Abdul Latif Siddique filed over the legitimacy of an Election Commission (EC) hearing on his parliament membership.
The order was passed and matter referred to the full bench by chamber judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hassan Foyez Siddique yesterday after a stay order petition was made with the court by the former minister as the High Court rejected a writ petition filed by him yesterday. Latif Siddique, in his writ petition, had challenged the jurisdiction of the Election Commission (EC) to carry out a hearing on the legitimacy of his parliament membership.
Soon after the HC order, Siddique filed an appeal with the Supreme Court for staying the operation of the HC order.
Earlier in the morning, after concluding hearing on the writ petition filed by Latif, the HC bench comprising Justice Md Emdadul Haque and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order.
After the HC order Additional Attorney General Murad Reza told reporters that Latif Siddiqi would have to attend the hearing of the EC on August 23 following the HC order. He also said that the EC commission will now resolve the matter after hearing.
Latif had filed the petition with the HC on August 16 challenging the ECs August 9 notice which fixed August 23 for hearing the dispute over his parliament membership.
Latif was sacked as the posts and telecommunication minister on October 12 last year for his derogatory comments on Hajj, Tablighi Jamaat, and prime ministers son Sajeeb Wazed Joy at a New York programme on September 28.
On October 24, the ruling Awami League cancelled his party membership.
Latif came in the country from abroad and surrender to police in last November. He also spent several months in jail after he was accused of hurting religious sentiments in a number of cases.
He was released on bail in June this year after the High Court granted him bail.
On July 5, eight months after his expulsion from the party, Awami Leagues letter notifying Parliament of Siddiques ouster from the party reached Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury. After that, the EC was asked to decide on his parliament membership.
