The High Court has postponed the by-election for the vacant Jhenaidah-1 seat in the National Parliament.
The decision came after the High Court bench, led by Justice Md Zakir Hossain, heard a writ petition regarding the matter on Monday.
During the court proceedings, Lawyer Syed Mamun Mahbub represented the application.
Explaining the background, Mahbub mentioned that in the January 7 election, 49% of votes were cast, with Nazrul Islam Dulal, an independent candidate of the district's Awami League, reportedly receiving the highest number of votes.
However, Abdul Hye, the "boat" candidate, was later declared the winner. In response, Nazrul Islam filed an election petition with the High Court.
On February 1, the High Court issued notices to the defendants and suspended the gazette. However, the Appellate Division later stayed the gazette suspension order. Meanwhile, Abdul Hye passed away.
According to the prevailing rule, if the winning candidate dies, the applicant is declared the winner.
Instead of following this rule, a new election date was announced. Now, the High Court has postponed this election for 21 days and scheduled a hearing on the election petition starting from next Sunday.
During the 32nd Commission meeting held at the Election Commission (EC) on April 23, EC Secretary Jahangir Alam announced that the by-elections would be held on June 5.
The deadline for submitting nomination papers is May 7, with the selection of nomination papers set for May 9. Appeals against selection can be filed from May 10 to May 14, with appeal disposals scheduled for May 15. The last date for withdrawing candidature is May 16, and symbol allotment will take place on May 17. The regional officer of the Khulna region will serve as the returning officer.
Abdul Hye, the president of the Jhenaidah district Awami League, who was elected to the 12th National Parliament from this seat, passed away on March 16 while undergoing treatment in Thailand, leading to the vacancy of the seat.
The ruling Awami League has already announced its candidate for the by-election.
