No bar to hold Kurigram by-polls

Staff Correspondent: The High Court (HC) rejected a writ petition seeking stay on the process for holding by-election to Kurigram-3 constituency.

As a result, there is no legal bar to hold the by-election to Kurigram-3 constituency tomorrow, lawyers said.

The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the order on Tuesday.

On July 18, SM Mostafizur Rahman, a resident of Ramna union under Chilmari upazila, Kurigram, filed the writ petition challenging the legality of the schedule issued by the Election Commission (EC) on June 10 for holding the by-polls to Kurigram-3 constituency.

Petitioner’s lawyer Advocate Sheikh Jahangir Alam told risingbd.com that the EC had issued a gazette notification on December 13, 2013 including four unions of Chilmari upazila with Kurigram-3 constituency. The unions are- Chilmari, Ramna, Raniganj and Thanahat.

The EC on April 30 this year issued another gazette notification including the same four unions with Kurigram-4 constituency.

In the election schedule issued on June 10 this year, the EC, however, said the residents of the four unions can cast their votes in the by-polls to Kurigram-3.

Writ petitioner Mostafizur Rahman said in the petition that he is now a voter of Kurigram-4 constituency as per the gazette notification issued by the EC on April 30 this year.

But, he (Mostafizur) is allowed to cast his vote in the by-election to Kurigram-3 as per the election schedule which is illegal, Advocate Sheikh Jahangir Alam said.

The by-election to the Kurigram-3 constituency which felt vacant after Jatiya Party lawmaker AKM Maidul Islam died on May 11 is scheduled to be held tomorrow (July 25).


risingbd/Dhaka/July 24, 2018/Mahidi/AI