High Court judges are divided over Khaleda’s nomination for election

High Court judges are divided over whether BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently serving time in prison over graft, will be able to contest the Dec 30 election.

Khaleda’s participation in the upcoming election still remains uncertain although other candidates have begun their campaign.

Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir had earlier heard petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to scrap the BNP chief’s nominations for three parliamentary races.

On Tuesday, the bench issued a ‘divided’ order on the petition. Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed issued a rule with a directive to the Election Commission to accept Khaleda’s nomination. The judge also asked why the decision of rejecting Khaleda’s nomination will not be declared illegal.

Justice Iqbal Kabir, on the other hand, expressed his disagreement, blocking Khaleda from contesting the election.

“The Election Commission has become an inactive entity. It has been biased from the beginning. We came to the High Court expecting justice to be served,” said Barrister Kaisar Kamal, a member of Khaleda’s legal team.

“The presiding judge issued the rule with a stay order on the EC decision but his colleague on the bench has disagreed,” he said.

The matter will now shift to the chief justice for the final decision, Kaisar said.

“The chief justice will form a third bench to settle the petition. We expect to have justice from the third bench.”

The BNP had selected Khaleda as its nominee for the Feni-1 and the Bogura-6 and Bogura-7 seats. BNP leaders had submitted the necessary applications on her behalf.

The returning officers then rejected her nominations on Dec 2, citing her jail sentences. Khaleda appealed the decision with the Election Commission, but her petition was rejected.

The BNP chairperson then took the matter to the High Court.