The High Court will rule on March 18 on a writ petition challenging the legality of Article 70 of the constitution, which allows the cancellation of a lawmaker’s membership in Parliament for voting against his or her political party.
The High Court bench of Justice Abu Taher fixed the date on Sunday, following a hearing conducted by writ petitioner Yunus Ali Akond and Advocate ZI Khan. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the state during the hearing.
On January 15, the High Court bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal issued a split order on the petition.
Moyeenul, the senior judge of the bench, issued a ruling asking the government why Article 70 should not be declared illegal, while the bench’s junior judge Ashraful rejected the petition right away.
As per the rules, the writ went to the chief justice, who formed a different bench for final disposal of the petition.
Also Read - High Court issues split order on the legality of Article 70 of constitution
The cabinet secretary, law secretary, and secretary to the parliament secretariat have been made respondents to the petition.
According to Article 70, a person elected as a member of parliament (MP) in a national election in which he was nominated as a candidate by a political party shall vacate his/her seat if s/he a) resigns from that party or b) votes in parliament against that party, but shall not thereby be disqualified for subsequent election as a member of parliament.
Supreme Court lawyer Yunus Ali filed the petition with the High Court on April 17, 2017, saying Article 70 is against democracy and contradicts Articles 7, 19, 26, 27, 44, 31 and 119 of the constitution.
“Article 70 is undemocratic and it creates obstacle to the values of constitutional democracy,” he had told reporters.
“The state should run under the leadership of the elected representatives. This is the spirit of democracy. If Parliament membership is cancelled for crossing the floor by voting against his or her political party, a lawmaker cannot independently vote for the public interest,” the lawyer added.
This article was first published on banglatribune.com
Sunday, March 23, 2025
