HC suspends results of Dhaka-4 race, orders probe into irregularities

Awami League candidate Sanjida Khanam brought claims of irregularities at 18 polling centres to the court after her loss

Police check a man's bag at the gate of High Court after security was beefed up there ahead of the review verdict on war criminal Mir Quasem Ali on Tuesday. Photo: Asif Mahmud Ove

The High Court has suspended the results of the Dhaka-4 parliamentary race.

The bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Md Bashir Ullah made the decision based on a petition by Awami League candidate Sanjida Khanam on Tuesday.

The initial results for the election show that independent candidate Awlad Hossain beat Khanam by 2,198 votes.

Senior lawyer Motahar Hossain Saju and lawyer Shah Manzurul Haque represented the petitioners at the hearing.

“The court heard the petition alleging irregularities at 18 polling centres and ordered an investigation within 10 days. The name of independent candidate Awlad Hossain will not be in the gazette until the investigation is complete.”

Former MP and Supreme Court Advocate Khanam petitioned the court to scrap the results over allegations of voting irregularities at 18 centres.

The constituency is composed of Jatrabari and a portion of Shyampur.

According to the initial results, Awlad Hossain received 24,775 votes while his nearest rival Khanam received 22,577.