The High Court has questioned the legality of the municipal electoral code that restricted parliament’s members from taking part in election campaigns in local polls.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq issued a rule on Monday as to why the code should not be declared illegal.
The rule was issued following a primary hearing on a writ petition filed by a Supreme Court lawyer AKM Nur Nabi.
The authorities concerned of the government, Election Commission (EC) and parliament have been asked to come with explanations in this regard by three weeks.
In the petition that challenged the legality of the electoral rules, the lawyer said the rules 2 (12) and (22) of the Municipality Election Rules 2015 have restricted the MPs from running campaigns for their party candidates.
“As the MPs do not hold profitable posts like the ministers, speaker and deputy speaker, there should be no legal bar for them to run the campaigns. The MPs get honorarium from the state,” he said.
On November 23, rules 2 (12) and (22) of the Municipality Election Rules 2015 were added which say the MPs are very important persons and hold profitable posts but the section 68 and 152 of the constitution do not entitle them as profitable posts.
The rules 2 (12) and (22) are contradictory to the constitution and the writ was filed against the rules, said Nurul Islam Sujon, a lawyer of the petitioner.
