The Election Commission (EC) yesterday declared BNP leader Maj Gen (retd) Mahmudul Hasan elected MP from the Tangail-5 constituency.
In the process the EC cancelled candidacy of Jatiya Party MP Abul Kashem who contested the parliamentary polls from this constituency and was elected on December 29, 2008.
The EC yesterday took the decision in line with a Supreme Court verdict that declared Kashem disqualified from contesting the December 29 polls as he was a loan defaulter then.
The EC Secretariat yesterday afternoon issued a gazette notification to this effect, a senior EC official said.
In the polls Mahmudul conceded defeat to Kashem but opted for legal battle, filing an election petition with the High Court claiming that Kashem was a loan and bill defaulter.
Mahmudul in his petition said Kashem was a defaulter of Tk 15.44 crore loan with the Sonali Bank's Bangabandhu Avenue branch in Dhaka and also defaulter of telephone bill of Tk 32,000 till November 30, 2008.
As per the Representation of the People's Order, Kashem's candidacy was supposed to be cancelled, he argued.
The HC on December 15, 2009 voided Kashem's parliamentary membership and declared his election candidacy illegal as Mahmudul's claims were substantiated during trial.
The court also asked the EC to declare Mahmudul elected, as he got second highest votes in the December 29 polls.
Kashem filed an appeal with the Appellate Division, challenging the HC's verdict. But he lost as the Appellate Division on February 14 this year upheld the HC verdict.
After a meeting earlier in the day, Election Commissioner Mohammad Shahnewaz said they took the decision to implement the apex court's verdict.
EC officials termed the incident first-ever in the recent parliamentary election history. "I did not witness such an incident in my entire career with the EC Secretariat in the last 25 years," said a senior official asking not to be identified.
Earlier on October 18, 2009, the Supreme Court declared illegal the parliament membership of Maj (retd) Jasim Uddin, who was elected on Awami League ticket from the Bhola-3 constituency.
The SC handed down the ruling, as Jasim took part in the December 29 election before five years had passed since his retirement from the military.
Later, the EC held a by-election to that constituency, Bhola-3.
Following an SC verdict, the EC last year scrapped AL leader Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir's candidature in the December 29 parliamentary polls as he was disqualified from contesting the general elections for his conviction in a corruption case.
He was elected from the Chandpur-1 constituency.
But Alamgir challenged the EC's move and the HC in November last year declared the EC's decision illegal.