Top News Desk: In a significant development, the oath taken by 290 parliamentarians after the 11th national parliament election has been deemed valid. The seven-member Appellate Bench, headed by the Chief Justice, reached this decision today as they dismissed the leave-to-appeal. Barrister AM Mahabub Uddin Khokon represented the writ during the court hearing.
Representing the state, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin appeared in the court proceedings. The appeal hearing against the dismissal of the writ, which challenged the validity of the oath taken by the members of the 11th National Assembly, began on July 27.
The 11th National Parliament members took their oaths on January 3, 2019, following the parliamentary election held on December 30, 2018. In contrast, the 10th national parliament election occurred on January 5, 2014, and those elected were sworn in on January 9 of the same year. The first meeting of that Parliament took place on January 29 of that year.
As per Article 72 (3) of the Constitution, the parliamentary term lasts for five years from the first sitting. Consequently, the term of the 10th parliament had not yet ended when the swearing-in of the 11th parliament took place. This led Lawyer Taherul Islam Touhid to file a petition in the High Court on January 14, 2019, questioning the validity of the oaths taken by 290 members of the 11th Parliament.
Following the hearing of the writ, the High Court dismissed the petition filed on February 18, 2019, which challenged the validity of the oaths taken by the elected members of the 11th National Parliament. Subsequently, the writ petitioner sought leave to appeal against the High Court’s judgment on September 20, 2019. With the recent dismissal of the leave-to-appeal, the validity of the parliamentary oaths stands confirmed.
Report by: Habiba Sultana
