HC restores Sadiq Abdullah's candidacy, upholds scrapping of Shammi and Shamim's over dual citizenship

Abdullah will run as an independent from the Barishal-5 constituency, but ruling party candidates Shammi and Shamim are barred from the polls

The High Court has restored the candidacy of Barishal-5 independent Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah ahead of the upcoming 12th national parliamentary elections.

The Election Commission scrapped his nomination, barring the Awami League leader from participating in the election on Dec 15 as he was alleged to hold a dual citizenship. The High Court bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Md Bashir Ullah overturned the decision on Monday after hearing Abdullah's petition.

However, the apex court upheld the commission’s decision to scrap the candidacies of two other ruling party leaders - Shammi Ahmed of Bairshal-4 and Shamim Haque of Faridpur-3.

The bench of Justice Md Iqbal Kabir and Justice SM Moniruzzaman rejected the writ petitions filed by Shammi and Shamim.

Although the trio are all affiliated with the Awami League, former Barishal city mayor Sadiq Abdullah submitted a nomination to run for the Barishal-5 constituency as an independent after failing to get the ruling party's ticket.

Shammi Ahmed and Shamim Haque secured nominations from the Awami League but the commission barred them from participating in the election due to allegations against them over dual citizenship.

State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk filed an application to annul Abdullah's nomination. The commission scrapped his candidacy after the hearing.

Abdullah also filed an appeal against rival Faruk, accusing the leader of hiding case information. The EC rejected the plea.

Shammi's eligibility was called into question by independent Pankaj Debnath, her rival in the Barishal-4 race. Shammi also questioned his eligibility. Pankaj survived the challenge, but Shammi has been disqualified due to dual citizenship.

Pankaj applied for Shammi's candidacy to be scrapped on the basis that she failed to disclose her Australian citizenship in her nomination filing.

Meanwhile, independent candidate AK Azad appealed to nullify Shamim's candidacy for the Faridpur-3 seat, claiming that the Awami League candidate is also a citizen of the Netherlands. The EC upheld the appeal and disqualified Shamim.