Inaction on EC’s side alleged

Stay on MK Alamgir seat vacation extended

Mohammad Ali
The High Court stay on vacation of seat of AL-lawmaker Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir has been extended from six months to till the disposal of the rule, it is learnt.

Court sources said the stay was extended 12 days before its expiry on 25th March.

The lawyer of Election Commission (EC) is learned to have missed a three-weak deadline for replying to a court's rule as to why the EC gazette, which declared JS membership of MK Alamgir vacant, should not be declared illegal.

On September 22, the EC published a gazette declaring the JS seat of Chandpur-1 constituency vacant following a verdict of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
The commission had cancelled candidature of MK Alamgir before the 2008 national election as he was convicted in a case at that time and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The Appellate Division of the SC on July 15 upheld an HC order that earlier declared legal EC's decision to cancel his candidature for the parliamentary polls.
However on September 26, a bench of the HC Division comprising Justice MK Alamgir seat AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain stayed effectiveness of the EC gazette for six months following a writ petition filed by MK Alamgir.
The HC bench also issued a rule to explain within three weeks why its gazette vacating the seat of the petitioner should not be declared illegal.
Interestingly, though EC was allowed three weeks to give reply to the rule, the EC received the copy of the HC order (on January 2) after passing three months and seven days of delivering the order, EC sources said.
Even after receiving the copy of the order before two months and 24 days, but EC didn't respond to the rule till now.
In the meantime, the six-month deadline expired on March 25. Before expiry of the deadline, MK Alamgir secured extension of the stay order from the HC till disposal of the rule.
However, due to weak move of EC to fight the case the disposal of the matter has become uncertain, said legal experts.
EC's lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik on Saturday told The New Nation, "Disposal of the matter is being delayed as the court has a lot of cases to handle."
President of Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday told The New Nation, "The EC should appoint more expert and experienced lawyers, who should move strongly."
Suggesting EC to be more active, he said, "The government may have an ill-motive behind the delay in disposing of the rule."
The New Nation