SC upholds HC order rejecting writs challenging presidential election

Staff Reporter  :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a High Court order that summarily rejected two writ petitions filed challenging the legality of the process of electing Md Shahabuddin as President of the country.

An eight-member Bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique dismissed a leave to appeal petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer MA Aziz Khan seeking stay on the High Court order.

The apex court also imposed a cost of Tk 0.1 million to petitioner MA Aziz Khan, for moving such a petition before this court.
Election Commission (EC) issued a gazette notification on February 13 this year declaring Md Shahabuddin, a retired judge and former ACC commissioner, as the president-elect of Bangladesh.

Supreme Court lawyers M A Aziz Khan and Abdul Momin Chowdhury and others filed two separate writ petitions with the High Court challenging the legality of the presidential election. The High Court held hearing on the petitions at one time. After hearing on the petitions, the High Court on March 15 summarily rejected the duo.
Later only M AAziz Khan filed appeal petition against the High Court order. He on 15 May submitted the leave to appeal petition to the SC as its Chamber Judge on March 21 upheld the High Court order. The Chamber Judge at the same time sent the matter to the regular Bench of the SC and fixed May 18 for detail hearing on it.
Lawyer M A Aziz Khan himself argued for his petition, while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the State.
In the full text of the High Court said,”We hold that as the Head of the State, the President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh holds ‘the office of profit’, but ‘it is not an office of profit in the service of the Republic’ and the procedures of assuming his office of the President is not like the same who serves in the service of the Republic.”
It further observed that “We hold that Section-9 of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act, 2004 does not create any bar to the former Commissioner of ACC, Mr. Md Shahabuddin, to be elected as the President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and assumes the office of President as a Profitable one.”

“We hold that though as a former Commissioner of ACC, the President-elect, Mr Md Shahabuddin, also held an office of profit in the service of the Republic, this in no way disqualifying him from being elected or holding the office of President, which is not an office of profit in the service of the Republic,” also observed the HC Bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir in their 39-page full text order which was uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Monday.
Md Shahabuddin, who was elected as 22nd president of the republic on February 13, took oath of the office on April 24.