SC stays process to hold Tangail-4 by-election
UNB
The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the process of holding Tangail-4 by-polls slated for November 10, reports UNB.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after primarily hearing a petition filed by the Election Commission, and sent the petition to the regular bench of the Appellate Division fixing November 2 for the next hearing.
Barrister Mohammad Yeasin Khan stood for the petitioner while Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali and Barrister Ragib Rauf Chowdhury stood for Krishak Sramik Janata League (KSJL) president Abdul Kader Siddique.
Talking to reporters while emerging from the court, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the Chamber Judge Court has stayed the process of Tangail-4 by-polls following the ECs petition, seeking a stay on the High Court order that had asked the Election Commission to accept the nomination paper of Kader Siddique. Besides, the Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, will pass its order after verifying whether Kader Siddique is a loan defaulter or not on November 2, said the Attorney General.
Earlier on Monday, the Election Commission filed a petition seeking a stay on a High Court order that asked it to accept the nomination paper of Kader Siddique for allowing him to contest the Tangail-4 by-polls.
On October 21, a High Court bench comprising Justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Mohammad Izarul Haq asked the Election Commission to accept the nomination paper of Kader Siddique.
Kader Siddique filed the writ petition with the HC on October 20 challenging the legality of the cancellation of his nomination to contest the Tangail-4 by-polls.
The parliamentary seat-133 (Tangail-4) has remained vacant since September 1 as sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique, elder brother of Kader Siddique, quit his parliament membership on the day. On October 11, Kader Siddique his wife Nasrin Siddique and two other leaders of the party submitted nomination papers to contest the by-election billed for November 10.
The Election Commission on October 13 rejected the nomination papers submitted by Kader Siddique and his wife on loan default charges.
On October 18, a five-member panel, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, also dismissed the appeals filed by Kader Siddique and Nasrin Siddique against the cancellation of their nominations.
The commission scrapped his nomination as the Credit Information Bureau of Bangladesh Bank sent a fax to the commission informing that Siddiques firm Sonar Bangla Engineering defaulted on a Tk 10.88 crore loan from Agrani Bank.
