Appellate Division bars Aslam Chowdhury from taking oath as MP

Bangla Press Desk:   The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ruled that BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury, who won the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat, is not eligible to take the oath of office due to his status as a loan defaulter.

As a result, the election result for the constituency cannot be officially published.

A bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury delivered the verdict on Tuesday (30 June).

Earlier, the court had fixed 30 June for the judgment after concluding hearings on 15 June.

Senior lawyers Mohammad Shishir Manir and Barrister ASM Shahriar Kabir represented the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate, with advocate Md Azim Uddin Patwary also appearing. Aslam Chowdhury was represented by senior advocate Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon.

Aslam Chowdhury’s nomination papers had been declared valid by the Election Commission on 18 January, the final day of appeals, despite allegations that he was a loan defaulter.

A writ petition filed by the concerned bank challenging the Election Commission's decision was dismissed by the High Court. The bank authorities subsequently appealed the decision to the Appellate Division.Separately, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Md Anwar Siddique filed a petition seeking leave to appeal against the High Court order. On 3 February, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal, allowing Aslam Chowdhury to contest the election while ordering that the result would remain suspended and could not be published until the appeal was disposed of.

Aslam Chowdhury won the 12 February election. However, in accordance with the court's earlier directive, the result was not officially published. With Tuesday's ruling, the Appellate Division held that he is ineligible to take the oath as an MP due to loan default, meaning the election result for Chattogram-4 cannot be published.