HC scraps Nahid’s challenge, clearing way for BNP’s Quayum to run for Dhaka-11 seat

The petition had claimed the BNP hopeful had concealed his Vanuatu citizenship in his election affidavit

The High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the candidacy of MA Quayum, who is contesting in the parliamentary polls on the BNP ticket from the Dhaka-11 constituency.

The bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md Asif Hasan made the decision on Tuesday.

Nahid Islam, the chief of the National Citizens Party and the candidate from the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami for the seat, had petitioned the court to stay the order validating Quayum’s candidacy, claiming he had concealed his citizenship from the island country of Vanuatu in his election affidavit.

The petition also sought a stay on the returning officer’s decision.

Lawyer Mohammad Hossain Lipu represented the petitioner, while senior advocates Ruhul Quddus Kazal and Ahsanul Karim appeared for Quayum.

Additional Attorney General Aneek Haque and Mohammad Arshadur Rouf represented the state.

Following the dismissal, Kazal said the petition was not maintainable at this stage of the election process.

“What we have said is that he cannot file this petition during the campaign,” Kazal told reporters.

“If he has any grievance against Mr Quayum, it will be contested in the election field.”

He added that any challenge could be raised later if Quayum is elected.

Nahid’s lawyer Zahirul Islam Musa argued that under the Constitution, anyone who has taken foreign citizenship or pledged allegiance to another country is disqualified from contesting parliamentary elections.

He claimed that Quayum had concealed his alleged Vanuatu citizenship, which was later “disclosed” and circulated on social media, including images of what was said to be a passport.

Explaining why they approached the High Court instead of the Election Commission, Musa said the information came to light after the deadline for filing an appeal with the EC had expired.

“Since the time for appealing has passed, we have come under the writ jurisdiction of the High Court,” he said.

After the court rejected the petition, Kazal dismissed the allegations as unfounded and warned against relying on unverified claims from social media.

“He said online that he saw on Facebook that Mr Quayum had taken citizenship of Vanuatu,” Kazal said.

“We have seen how risky and dangerous it is to trust Facebook.”

Quayum’s legal team maintained that he never acquired foreign citizenship.

Kazal told the court that Quayum had lived in Malaysia under refugee status after facing persecution during the previous Sheikh Hasina government and returned to Bangladesh after Aug 5.

“There is no connection with this allegation,” he said, calling it a false attempt to derail Quayum’s candidacy.

Kazal also criticised what he described as an unhealthy political tendency to seek courtroom victories rather than contesting elections at the ballot box.

“The contesting candidates should go to the people,” he said.

“This cannot be a healthy political trend to leave the polling station and come to the court to cancel another person’s nomination.”

He added that Bangladesh needs competitive elections, not uncontested victories.

After scrutiny, the returning officer declared the nomination papers of both Nahid Islam and MA Quayum valid for the Dhaka-11 constituency.