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Download PDF The High Court (HC) yesterday issued a rule on the Election Commission (EC) and the government to show cause within two weeks as to why they should not be directed to call upon the legitimate BNP officials.
A HC bench issued the rule following a writ petition filed yesterday by a Supreme Court lawyer and a former leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP, seeking direction to the EC in this regard.
The respondent of the rule is the EC, represented by its chairman and secretary, and principal secretary to the chief adviser.
Petitioner of the case former JCD leader barrister Nasir Uddin Asim told The Daily Star yesterday that observing a number of recent comments of EC officials about intra-party feud in BNP, its leadership and the BNP standing committee meeting of a BNP faction, he filed the petition so that the EC calls upon the right people for dialogues.
The BNP standing committee meeting made Saifur Rahman acting chairperson and Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin acting secretary general of the BNP.
In the wake of this confusion about which group of the BNP will be invited for dialogue on electoral reforms, Asim filed his writ petition saying that secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain is the right person to be invited as Khaleda is in jail.
He said the meeting of the BNP standing committee was illegal, they cannot convene such a meeting without BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s permission.
BNP’s controversial standing committee meeting did not approve Khaleda’s decision of appointing Khandaker Delwar as BNP’s secretary general expelling Mannan Bhuiyan from the post.
Asim said a person can be made secretary general through the party council or by the party chairperson, who has absolute power to appoint, relieve or expel a secretary general.
He said in his petition that according to the BNP constitution Khandaker Delwar Hossain is now secretary general of the party as the chairperson herself appointed him. “There is no power of the party standing committee to remove its secretary general,” he added.
He also said as per BNP constitution, there is no provision for appointing acting chairperson and acting secretary general of the party.
Barrister Nawshad Jamir moved the case as counsel for Nasir Uddin Asim.
The government arrested Khaleda on September 3 and that very day she appointed Delwar as party secretary general.
November 5th, 2007 at 5:56 am
JCD leader barrister Nasir Uddin Asim’s claims with due respect, the EC must acknowledge without fail unless it has any interest to jeopordise BNP.
The EC must also respect the party chief Khaleda Zia’s decision as the way she has appointed Mr Mannan Bhuiyan as general secretary previusly.