Appellate Division clears MP Sarwar Alamgir to attend Parliament sessions

The Appellate Division ruled that there is no legal bar preventing BNP lawmaker Sarwar Alamgir from attending the upcoming sessions of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad.

A bench led by the Chief Justice passed the order on Wednesday (July 29), allowing the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate is free to file a regular appeal against the matter.

The legal dispute stems from the Chattogram-2 parliamentary seat, where the Election Commission (EC) had initially cancelled Sarwar Alamgir's nomination. Challenging the decision, he filed a writ petition with the High Court, which later reinstated his candidature, allowing him to contest the election as the BNP nominee.

However, publication of the election result remained suspended pending a decision by the apex court.

Following the final hearing, the High Court on July 9 declared the EC's decision to cancel his nomination illegal. On the same day, the Election Commission Secretariat published a gazette declaring Sarwar Alamgir elected from Chattogram-2, after which he took oath as a Member of Parliament.

Subsequently, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Muhammad Nurul Amin, who contested from the same constituency, filed an application with the Appellate Division on July 12, seeking a stay on the High Court verdict and requesting that Sarwar Alamgir be barred from participating in parliamentary proceedings.

After hearing the matter, the Appellate Division declined to impose any restriction on Sarwar Alamgir's parliamentary activities, while stating that the petitioner may pursue a regular appeal through the prescribed legal process.

Senior lawyers Mohammad Shishir Monir and Azim Uddin Patwari represented the Jamaat candidate, while Ahsanul Karim and A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon appeared on behalf of Sarwar Alamgir. Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kajal was also present during the hearing.