Former Gazipur mayor Zahangir challenges cancellation of nomination paper

Gazipur City Corporation’s (GCC) former mayor Zahangir Alam has submitted a writ petition to the High Court, challenging the legality of cancellation of his nomination paper for the mayoral post in the upcoming GCC election.

Barrister Nakib Saiful Islam, on behalf of the former mayor, submitted the petition to the HC bench concerned a week after Gazipur’s Returning Officer (RO) Faridul Islam cancelled his nomination paper in a primary scrutinization, as he is a “loan defaulter”.

On May 4, Zahangir appealed to Dhaka divisional commissioner against the cancellation; the appeal was rejected on the same day.

According to UNB, Zahangir then moved the HC challenging the cancellations.

On April 30, during primary scrutinization, Zahangir’s nomination was cancelled while his mother Zaida Khatun’s nomination was declared valid.

Zahangir was the guarantor of an industrial organization. Zahangir was declared a loan defaulter along with the organization, the returning officer said.

Though the former mayor and his counsel submitted documents demonstrating paying off the loan along with the nomination paper, the returning officer cancelled his nomination during the scrutiny.