Aslam Chowdhury cannot take oath: Appellate Division

The Appellate Division has ruled that Aslam Chowdhury, the BNP candidate who won the Chattogram-4 constituency, cannot take oath due to being a loan defaulter. As a result, his election result cannot be published.

The ruling was delivered on Tuesday, June 30, by a bench led by Chief Justice Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury. The court had reserved judgment on June 15 and set today for the verdict.

Senior lawyers Mohammad Shishir Monir and Barrister A S M Shahriar Kabir appeared for the Jamaat candidate, along with lawyer Md Azim Uddin Patwari. Senior lawyer Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon appeared for Aslam Chowdhury.

Aslam Chowdhury's nomination was declared valid by the Election Commission on January 18 after an appeal hearing, despite allegations of loan default. The bank later filed a writ petition challenging the decision, which was dismissed by the High Court. The bank then appealed to the Appellate Division.

Jamaat candidate Md Anwar Siddique filed a leave-to-appeal petition against the High Court order. On February 3, the Appellate Division granted the leave-to-appeal against Aslam Chowdhury's candidature, allowing him to contest but ordering that the result would remain stayed and not be published until the appeal was disposed of.

Aslam Chowdhury won the February 12 election, but the result was not published due to the court order.