A writ petition has been filed with the High Court seeking suspension of the presidential election schedule and the validity of Article 70 of the Constitution.
Writ petitioner lawyer Md Yunus Ali Akand confirmed the matter on Thursday, saying the petition may be heard by a High Court bench headed by Justice Khizir Ahmed next week.
Article 70 of the Constitution states that if a person elected to parliament as a candidate of a political party resigns from that party or votes against it in parliament, their parliamentary seat will become vacant. However, they will not be disqualified from contesting a subsequent parliamentary election for that reason.
The lawyer said Article 70 prevents MPs from voting freely and undermines their democratic rights.
The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the country's 23rd presidential election is 4pm on Thursday. According to the Election Commission (EC) schedule, nomination papers can be submitted from 10am to 4pm on Thursday.
EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed has already issued a notification outlining the election schedule.
Under the notification, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has been appointed as the election officer.
The nomination papers will be scrutinized on August 16, while the deadline for withdrawing candidacy is August 18.
Voting will take place on August 20 from 2pm to 5pm in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban session room.
This is the first presidential election since 1991 in which there is a possibility of multiple candidates. Besides the BNP, the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance has also nominated a candidate.
The alliance has nominated former BNP leader and minister Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate.
The BNP has collected two nomination papers, while the 11-party alliance has collected one.