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Published : 30 Jun 2026, 10:55 AM
Despite winning the vote for the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat, BNP candidate Aslam Chowdhury has been barred from taking office due to defaulting on a loan.
The four-member bench of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury scrapped Aslam’s candidacy in a decision on Tuesday, suspending the results of the election.
Lawyers Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon represented Aslam at the court hearing.
Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir and Barrister ASM Shahriar Kabir represented the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for the seat, Anwar Siddique. They were accompanied by Md Azim Uddin Patwary.
Before the 13th national parliamentary elections, the returning officer had declared Aslam's nomination papers valid after screening them on Jan 3 of this year.
However, Jamaat candidate Anwar and Jamuna Bank appealed to the Election Commission (EC) alleging that he had defaulted on a loan.
After a hearing on Jan 18, the EC dismissed the appeal, and Aslam's candidacy remained intact.
The two complainants filed separate writ petitions in the High Court challenging the Election Commission's decision. On Jan 27, the High Court dismissed both the writ petitions after a hearing, maintaining the validity of Aslam’s candidacy.
Jamaat candidate Anwar filed a leave to appeal in the Supreme Court's Appellate Division against the High Court's order. On Feb 3, a five-member appeal bench headed by the Chief Justice granted his appeal.
The order said that even if the appeal was accepted for a hearing, Aslam would be able to contest the Feb 12 poll. However, the results of the constituency would not be published until the appeal is finally disposed of.
Despite the uncertainty, Aslam beat Anwar by 53,000 votes in the election. But, as per the Supreme Court's instructions, the Election Commission postponed the publication of the official gazette with the results. As a result, Aslam's oath-taking was also delayed.
Aslam then appealed to the Appellate Division, asking for the declaration of the results and permission to take the oath. Anwar filed his own appeal on Mar 31.
Following this, the Appellate Division heard the matter. At the hearing, the Supreme Court took into consideration the opinions of lawyers M Kamrul Haque Siddique and Prabir Niyogi as amicus curiae, or friends of the court.
The verdict given by the Appellate Division on Tuesday after the final hearing blocked Aslam’s path to parliament.
