Nomination rejection order stayed: BNP’s Mobashwer Alam cleared to contest election

The High Court has stayed the decisions of the relevant returning officer and the election commission (EC) cancelling the nomination paper submitted by Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-nominated candidate for the Cumilla-10 constituency (Nangalkot and Lalmay upazilas).

At the same time, the court has directed the EC to accept his nomination paper.

Following a preliminary hearing on a writ petition filed by Mobashwer challenging the legality of the EC’s decision cancelling his nomination, a High Court bench comprising justice Rajik-al-Jalil and justice Md Anwarul Islam issued the order, along with a rule, on Sunday.

After the order, one of Mobashwer’s lawyers, Jyotirmoy Barua, told Prothom Alo that by staying the nomination cancellation, the High Court had directed the EC to allocate the party symbol, the sheaf of paddy, to Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan.

However, EC lawyer Mohammad Mizanur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the High Court had stayed the decisions of both the returning officer and the EC to cancel the nomination paper, and had simultaneously instructed the Commission to allow Mobashwer Alam to participate in the election.

Earlier, on 3 January, the relevant returning officer cancelled Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan’s nomination paper on the grounds of loan default and failure to submit a party endorsement letter.

Mobashwer subsequently appealed to the EC. After a hearing, the EC rejected his appeal on 18 January and upheld the returning officer’s decision.

Challenging the legality of that decision and seeking restoration of his candidacy, Mobashwer filed a writ petition with the HC on 19 January.

During the hearing, the writ petitioner was represented by senior lawyers Muhammad Jamir Uddin Sarkar and Syed Mamun Mahbub, along with lawyers Fakhrul Islam, Jyotirmoy Barua and SM Shamim Hossain. Lawyer Mohammad Mizanur Rahman represented the election commission.

Explaining the matter, Jyotirmoy Barua said the nomination had been cancelled on two grounds—loan default and absence of party endorsement.

He further said Mobashwer Alam had made a lump-sum repayment on 10 December, following which the loan was rescheduled before 29 December. The delay occurred because the concerned bank took time to communicate. After the rescheduling, the bank had received all outstanding payments and had confirmed that Mobashwer was no longer a defaulter.

Referring to electoral law provisions that allow political parties to nominate more than one candidate for a constituency, the lawyer said Mobashwer submitted his nomination paper as a BNP-nominated candidate without a party endorsement letter. BNP had nominated two candidates in the constituency. The other BNP candidate, Md Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan, submitted his nomination paper along with the party endorsement letter. However, Gafur Bhuiyan’s nomination was cancelled following an appeal by another candidate over his dual citizenship.

Jyotirmoy Barua also said BNP finalised Mobashwer Alam on the same day and handed him the party endorsement letter. He later appeared before the EC with the letter to validate his nomination paper, but was informed that the letter could not be accepted in that manner. He subsequently filed the writ petition.