Writ petition seeking suspension of presidential election dismissed
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
The High Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the validity of Article 70 of the Constitution and the schedule for the presidential election. The article concerns the vacation of a parliamentary seat for voting against the party in Parliament.
The bench led by Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury passed the order Tuesday afternoon.
The court said there was no substance in the writ petition. It also said that it would be better for Parliament to decide on the validity of Article 70 of the Constitution.
Earlier, Supreme Court lawyer Yunus Ali Akand filed the writ petition on August 13 as the petitioner. He conducted the hearing himself on behalf of the writ petitioner. Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared for the state. Deputy Attorneys General Mamun Chowdhury and Akhter Hossain Md. Abdul Wahab were with him.
The Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule on August 6 for the country’s 23rd presidential election. According to the schedule, voting in the presidential election will be held on August 20.
Article 70 of the Constitution deals with the vacation of a parliamentary seat if a lawmaker resigns from a political party or votes against the party.
The article states that if a person is elected as a member of Parliament as a candidate of a political party and then resigns from that party or votes against it in Parliament, his seat in Parliament will become vacant. However, he will not be disqualified from being elected as a member of Parliament in any subsequent election for that reason.
Lawyer Yunus Ali Akand had previously filed a writ petition challenging Article 70. After an initial hearing, a two member High Court bench issued a split order on January 15, 2018. The senior judge of the bench issued a rule, while the other judge dismissed the writ petition. The Chief Justice later sent the matter to a single bench of the High Court for resolution, which became known as the third bench. On March 18 of the same year, the single bench dismissed the writ petition.
