Newly appointed minister files Tk 1b defamation suit against rival candidate
Newly appointed Housing and Public Works Minister, RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, has filed a defamation suit against his rival candidate – Firozur Rahman – in the 12th national polls, seeking Tk 1 billion in damage.
He, as an Awami League candidate with the boat symbol, defeated Firozur Rahman, who ran independently, in Brahmanbaria-3 constituency in the parliamentary election held on Sunday.
Later, Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury was declared as a minister in the new cabinet on Wednesday and sworn in on Thursday.
Meanwhile, he filed the defamation suit at the court of joint district and sessions judge’s court of Brahmanbaria, Nazrul Islam, on Thursday afternoon, alleging that the defendant made objectionable statements during his election campaign.
In the run up to the election, Firozur Rahman resigned as upazila parishad chairman and sought nomination from ruling Awami League for the constituency. Being denied, he ran as an independent candidate and got 64,037 votes in total, while Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury emerged victorious with 158,872 votes.
On the polling day, Firozur Rahman announced to boycott the election at 3:30 pm, raising allegations of vote rigging. He also demanded that a fresh election be arranged for the constituency, but it was not met.
However, he greeted Obaidul Muktadir on his appointment as minister on Thursday night.
According to the lawsuit, apprehending no chance of win, the defendant made various false, fabricated, and derogatory statements against the plaintiff at different places, in an effort to misguide the voters. It also noted a specific statement that Firozur Rhaman delivered at an election rally at Suhilpur of Sadar upazila around 8:00 pm on 26 December and claimed that it defamed him.
Abdul Jabbar Mamun, law affairs secretary of Awami League’s Brahmanbaria municipality unit and lawyer of Obaidul Muktadir, said the court took the case to its cognisance and will hear it on Sunday.
In the next phase, it will summon the defendant. If the defendant does not pay the compensation in time, the plaintiff requested the court to issue an order to confiscate his immovable properties to facilitate the repayment.
Contacted, Firozur Rahman said, “I told the election rally that I had given Tk 500,000 through a check to his university. It’s not long ago. And a long time ago, I had given him Tk 50,000 to launch a school. It is true that I had given him the money. I said what is true. When he sent the legal notice, I could not reply due to election business. Since he filed a case, I will respond legally.”