BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's chances of participating in the 11th general polls appear to have been completely eradicated after Supreme Court upheld a High Court order barring five BNP leaders convicted in graft cases, from contesting the polls.
Headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, a seven-member bench of the Appellate Division passed a "no order" - meaning the Supreme Court refused to stay the High Court's order - on the petition filed by Dr Zahid Hossain seeking a suspension on his conviction and sentence.
Barrister Rokon Uddin Mahmud, Ahsanul Karim and Khairul Alam Chowdhury stood for Zahid in the hearing on Wednesday. The state was represented by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Additional Attorney General Murad Reza.
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Lawyer Md Khurshid Alam represented the Anti-corruption Commission.
Barrister Khairul Alam said: "Dr Zahid Hossain petitioned to the High Court seeking a stay on his conviction and sentence. The court rejected his petition.
"Later, a full bench of the Appellate Division passed the 'no order' on his petition," he said. "As a result, all the legal procedures seeking a suspension on his conviction have been completed."
The returning officer will now decide whether he will be able to participate in the election or not, Khairul said.
What was the High Court's order?
On Tuesday, the High Court rejected separate petitions filed by five BNP leaders - Amanullah Aman, Dr AZM Zahid, Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, Abdul Wahab and Moshiur Rahman - seeking stay orders on the lower court verdicts in the graft cases filed against them.
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The five BNP leaders were all convicted in different graft cases to 10 to 20 years' imprisonment by different courts.
What did the Attorney General say about Khaleda?
Earlier on Tuesday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the court’s observations will be applicable to the BNP chief also. Khaleda was nominated for three constituencies, Bogra 6, Bogra 7 and Feni 1.
“Of course; this is a constitutional provision,” Mahbubey said. “There are two conditions here: if someone is sentenced for two years, and if five years have not passed since the end of their sentence. For Khaleda, both the conditions apply. No court can ignore these constitutional barriers with a verdict.”
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Mahbubey Alam also said as the Appellate Division or the High Court is based on the constitution, BNP has to abide by them. “If someone appeals against this order, the state’s submission will remain the same. We will tell the court it cannot ignore the constitution.”
BNP chief Khaleda was first jailed in February for five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case, although the High Court later doubled the sentence. The former prime minister was also sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in another corruption case in October.
When is the election?
On November 12, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda announced a fresh schedule for the parliamentary election.
The commission said the polls will now be held on December 30 instead of December 23.
According to the new schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is November 28 instead of November 19.
