HC delists hearing on JS constituency dispute
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
The High Court (HC) Monday de-listed the scheduled hearing on a pending writ petition challenging the Election Commission's (EC) gazette notification that recast the parliamentary constituencies under electoral reforms ahead of the national elections, reports UNB.
It put the writ hearing on the backburner, apparently causing a setback to the EC's move for quick resolution of the dispute to clear the way for announcing election schedule.
A vacation division bench of the HC, comprising Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice M Rezaul Haque, passed the order, as the counsel for the writ petitioner declined to get the hearing on the dispute over the delimitation of JS seats during the current court vacation.
When the matter came up for hearing Monday, the counsel for the EC told the court that the case "should be urgently resolved" as the EC, keeping the overhang of legal tangles, cannot announce the election schedule for the December 18 parliamentary polls.
On September 20, Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed declared December 18 as the date for holding the much- anticipated ninth parliamentary polls, earlier stalled amid political turmoil.
On August 7, the HC, upon a writ petition filed by former state minister and ex-BNP MP (Dhaka-2) Abdul Mannan, stayed for three months the gazette notification of the EC finalising the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies.
The stay lasts through the first week of November, while the writ hearing will have to be processed in another HC division bench.
The HC bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hosain Ahmed, while ordering the stay, also had issued a rule on the government and the EC to explain why the July 10 gazette notification "should not be declared unconstitutional and void".
Former Attorney-General Mahmudul Islam and Shahdeen Malik appeared for the EC and Advocate Zainul Abedin and Barrister Nasir Uddin Ashim for the writ petitioner.
It put the writ hearing on the backburner, apparently causing a setback to the EC's move for quick resolution of the dispute to clear the way for announcing election schedule.
A vacation division bench of the HC, comprising Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice M Rezaul Haque, passed the order, as the counsel for the writ petitioner declined to get the hearing on the dispute over the delimitation of JS seats during the current court vacation.
When the matter came up for hearing Monday, the counsel for the EC told the court that the case "should be urgently resolved" as the EC, keeping the overhang of legal tangles, cannot announce the election schedule for the December 18 parliamentary polls.
On September 20, Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed declared December 18 as the date for holding the much- anticipated ninth parliamentary polls, earlier stalled amid political turmoil.
On August 7, the HC, upon a writ petition filed by former state minister and ex-BNP MP (Dhaka-2) Abdul Mannan, stayed for three months the gazette notification of the EC finalising the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies.
The stay lasts through the first week of November, while the writ hearing will have to be processed in another HC division bench.
The HC bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hosain Ahmed, while ordering the stay, also had issued a rule on the government and the EC to explain why the July 10 gazette notification "should not be declared unconstitutional and void".
Former Attorney-General Mahmudul Islam and Shahdeen Malik appeared for the EC and Advocate Zainul Abedin and Barrister Nasir Uddin Ashim for the writ petitioner.