online Desk :

The apex court has turned down the appeals of Awami League nominee Shammi Ahmed and former Barishal city mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah to restore their candidacies for the Jan 7 national election. A six-member panel of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, rejected their applications on Tuesday. Chamber Justice M Enayetur Rahim had forwarded the petitions by the election hopefuls from Barishal challenging the Election Commission’s decision to scrap their nominations due to ‘dual citizenship’. Lawyer Fida M Kamal represented both Shammi, the ruling party’s nominee for Barishal-4, and Sadiq Abdullah, who was planning to run for the Barishal-5 seat as an independent, at the hearing. Shammi, the Awami League’s international affairs secretary, secured the party’s nomination for Barishal-4 ahead of incumbent MP Pankaj Debnath, who is seeking re-election as an independent. The rival candidates were at loggerheads from the off as they questioned each other’s eligibility to contest the election.

Shammi accused Pankaj of ‘concealing information’ in his nomination papers, while the lawmaker contended that she failed to disclose her Australian citizenship. Pankaj survived the challenge against his candidacy, but Shammi was disqualified by the EC. She then unsuccessfully appealed to the High Court to regain her candidacy. Despite his longstanding affiliation with the Awami League, Sadiq Abdullah failed to get the ruling party’s ticket for the Barishal-5 constituency and opted to run as an independent. State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk later filed an application to annul Sadiq Abdullah’s nomination for holding US citizenship, which was upheld by the EC and the High Court.