SC rulings dash election hopes of BNP's Munshi, Gafur as Mobasher stays in the race

The Supreme Court has rejected appeals by two Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidates seeking to contest upcoming parliamentary elections, while allowing another BNP nominee to remain in the race pending a final legal decision.

The rulings were delivered on Sunday by a five-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.

In the Cumilla-10 constituency, the Appellate Division granted leave to appeal against a High Court order that had restored the candidacy of BNP nominee Mobasher Alam Bhuiyan. Lawyers said the decision means Mobasher can contest the election, although the validity of any result in his favour will depend on the outcome of the appeal.

The appeal was filed by Hasan Ahmed, another candidate in the same constituency.

Earlier, the returning officer had rejected Mobasher's nomination on grounds of alleged loan default and failure to submit party certification. Although the Election Commission (EC) upheld that decision, the High Court on Jan 25 stayed the cancellation of his nomination and ordered that he be allocated the BNP’s "sheaf of paddy" electoral symbol.

Mobasher has since received the symbol.

His lawyer, Jyotirmoy Barua, said the Appellate Division had allowed the election in Cumilla-10 to proceed “as usual”, confirming that Mobasher could take part. However, he said the final status of any election win would depend on the court’s ruling in the pending appeal.

The Appellate Division also dismissed a separate application for leave to appeal by another BNP candidate in Cumilla-10, Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan, effectively barring him from contesting the election.

Gafur's candidacy had earlier been rejected by the Election Commission following an appeal that accused him of concealing information about dual citizenship. The appeal was filed by Kazi Nure Alam Siddiqui of the Bangladesh Cultural Liberation Alliance.

After hearings at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka on Jan 18, the EC cancelled his nomination. He later challenged the decision in the High Court, which summarily dismissed his writ petition on Jan 22.

The Appellate Division has now upheld that outcome.

In a separate case involving the Cumilla-4 constituency, the Appellate Division rejected a leave to appeal filed by BNP-nominated candidate Manjurul Ahsan Munshi, confirming that he will not be allowed to contest the election.

Munshi’s nomination had initially been declared valid by the returning officer but was later cancelled by the Election Commission following an appeal by rival candidate Hasnat Abdullah of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

Hasnat alleged that Munshi had concealed information about loan default when submitting his nomination papers.

After a hearing in Dhaka’s Agargaon area on Jan 17, the Election Commission accepted the appeal and invalidated Munshi’s candidacy. The High Court dismissed his challenge to that decision on Jan 21.

The Appellate Division later adjourned a preliminary hearing on Jan 26 before ultimately dismissing his application for leave to appeal.

Hasnat's lawyer Zahidul Islam said the ruling reaffirmed the legal principle that loan defaulters are not eligible to stand for election in Bangladesh.