Bangladesh
Presidential Appointment Writ Presidential appointment writ dismissed, lawyer fined Tk 1 lakh
Dhaka, May 18: The Appellate Division has upheld the order dismissing the writ challenging the validity of the EC Gazette declaring Md. Sahabuddin as the President-elect. Petitioner lawyer MA Aziz Khan has been fined Tk 1 lakh.
A full bench of 8 judges headed by the Chief Justice gave this order on Thursday. The other 7 people of the bench are - Justice Md Nuruzzaman, Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Borhan Uddin, Justice M Inayetur Rahim, Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Abu Zafar Siddiqui and Justice Jahangir Hossain.
Lawyer MA Aziz Khan was fined Tk 1 lakh for wasting court time by making unreasonable writs. Advocate MA Aziz Khan heard on behalf of the writ in the court. Attorney General A. M. Amin Uddin heard for the state.
A writ was filed in the High Court on March 7 challenging the process of electing Md. Sahabuddin as the President and the validity of the publication of the Election Commission's gazette. The writ sought suspension of the gazette issued declaring Md. Sahabuddin as President. At the same time, according to Article 7 of the Presidential Election Act, 1991, the petition was requested to issue a rule as to why the nomination of Md. Sahabuddin as President would not be outside the legal authority.
On March 15, the High Court dismissed the writ challenging the validity of the EC Gazette declaring Md. Sahabuddin as the President. Then on March 21, an appeal was filed in the Appellate Division against the dismissal of the writ.
Why this writ?
Regarding the reason for filing the writ, lawyer MA Aziz Khan said in March that the selection process for the president was not done properly. Had the scrutiny been proper, Md. Sahabuddin would not have been declared the President. Because Md. Sahabuddin was the former commissioner of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). According to Section 9 of the ACC Act 2004, former Commissioners of ACC cannot hold any position of profit. This has not been verified.
He said, besides, the Chief Election Commissioner said that Md. Sahabuddin was elected as the President. He was not appointed. This statement is not correct. In this case there is no difference between selection and appointment. For this reason, I have filed a writ challenging the validity of the presidential election process and suspending the operation of the gazette.
