Supreme Court Appoints Amicus Curiae in Aslam Chowdhury Candidacy Dispute
The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division has appointed two senior lawyers, M Kamrul Haque Siddiqui and Prabir Neogi, to serve as amici curiae to assist the court in the ongoing legal dispute regarding the candidacy of Aslam Chowdhury, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nominee for the Chittagong-4 constituency. A four-member bench, led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, has adjourned the hearing until June 15 following two days of deliberation.
The dispute stems from the 13th National Parliament election held on February 12, where the publication of results for the Chittagong-4 seat remains under a judicial freeze. While the High Court had originally upheld Mr. Chowdhury’s candidacy prior to the vote, that decision was challenged by Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Anwar Siddiqui, who alleged that the BNP nominee was a loan defaulter.
The Appellate Division granted leave to appeal against the High Court’s ruling on February 3, mandating that the election results pertaining to Mr. Chowdhury be withheld pending a final legal resolution. Subsequently, Bank Asia PLC also filed a separate appeal contesting the legitimacy of his candidacy, which has been consolidated with Mr. Siddiqui’s petition for the current proceedings.
During the hearings, a high-profile legal team represented the various stakeholders. Senior advocates Mohammad Shishir Monir, A.M. Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Md. Miftah Uddin Chowdhury, Rokanuddin Md. Farooq, and Kamal Ul Alam presented arguments for the respective parties, with Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kajal also participating in the proceedings. The court’s decision to involve amici curiae signals a deepening review of the eligibility criteria and the legal standing of the candidate’s disputed status.
