Dhaka, Dec 5 – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the
returning officer of Rangpur to complete the scrutiny of the nomination paper of BNP-nominated candidate Jamaat leader Professor Golam Rabbani within 24 hours after accepting it. A seven-member bench led by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after disposing of the appeal petition filed by the returning officer.
AJ Mohammad Ali stood for Golam Rabbani while attorney general Mahbubey Alam represented the state.
Earlier on Monday, the HC directed the returning officer of Rangpur to accept nomination paper of Golam Rabbani for Rangpur-5 in the upcoming December 30 general election.
Rabbani’s lawyer Shishir Monir said that when Golam Rabbani went to the returning officer to submit his nomination paper on November 28.
The returning officer kept Rabbani waiting for a long time and refused to accept his nomination papers on November 28, the last day for filing nomination. The returning officer did not accept Rabbani’s nomination despite having all relevant documents, which was not legal in the eye of the law, Monir said.
However, now the HC directed the EC to accept nomination paper as soon as possible.
Following the High Court order, the district returning officer filed an appeal petition with the Supreme Court. After hearing on the appeal, the apex court yesterday came up with the order.
Election Commission has revised polls schedule, deferring the 11th general election by a week to December 30 – a decision taken in November.
As per the schedule, November 28 was the deadline to submit nomination papers, December 2 was the date for scrutiny and December 9 the last date for withdrawal.
Throughout the last half of November, major political parties were busy selecting their chosen candidates for the 300 constituencies across Bangladesh. – Staff Reporter
