Supreme Court clears way for holding Jhenaidah-1 by-election
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The election was scheduled to be held on June 5
The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the Election Commission to hold the by-elections to Jhenaidah-1 constituency.
Chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Justice M Enayetur Rahim stayed a High Court order that postponed the process of holding the by-polls to the constituency for 21 days.
The order came following a petition filed by Awami League candidate Md Nayeb Ali Joardar challenging the High Court order.
The election was scheduled to be held on June 5.
With this order now there is no legal bar to hold the election.
Advocate M Syed Ahmed Raza, Advocate Sheikh Mohammad Morshed and Advocate BM Elias Kochi stood for the petitioner while Advocate Syed Mamun Mahbub and Barrister Md Ashraful Islam represented the other side.
On May 6, the High Court postponed the Jhenaidah-1 by-election, scheduled to be held on June 5, for 21 days.
The High Court also fixed Sunday for hearing on the election petition.
Later, Awami League backed candidate Nayeb Ali Joarddar filed a petition with the Appellate Division challenging the High Court order.
On January 7, the ruling party backed candidate Abdul Hye won the election from Jhenaidah-1 constituency during the 12th national election, but it fell vacant following the death of Abdul Hye on March 16.
Later, the EC declared the by-election for June 5 for the constituency.
An election petition seeking cancellation of the gazette notification issued following the January 7 election, is processing at the High Court.
The High Court also fixed Sunday May 12 for hearing on the petition after postponing the by-polls election schedule for the constituency.
Nazrul Islam, an independent candidate in the January 7 election, filed the election petition seeking a stay order on the gazette for the constituency.
On February 1, Justice AKM Asaduzzaman issued a stay order for two months on the gazette notification.
Before the two months expired, Abdul Hye passed away.
Earlier on January 7, according to the returning officer office, about 49% votes were cast at Jhenaidah-1 constituency. But the final results of the election showed that 58.27% votes were cast, or 28,389 more than the first report.
When the news spread, a petition was filed to issue a stay order on the voting results and gazette notifications published on January 8 and January 10, respectively.