A total of 72 appeals have been filed with the Election Commission so far by candidates challenging the acceptance and rejection of nomination papers for the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad election.
The appeal process entered its second day on Tuesday, with aggrieved candidates beginning to submit appeals from 10:00am at the EC premises in Agargaon, where 10 region-based booths have been set up to receive applications.
Election Commission officials said that 41 appeals were lodged on the first day, Monday, primarily against nomination rejections, along with one appeal challenging the acceptance of a nomination. By 12:45pm on Tuesday, the cumulative number of appeals filed over the two days had risen to 72.
Data from the first day show that appeals were filed from several regions, including three from Khulna, five from Rajshahi, three from Rangpur, two from Chattogram, five from Cumilla, 15 from Dhaka, one from Mymensingh, one from Barishal, and seven from Faridpur. Of these, one appeal from Cumilla was lodged against the acceptance of a nomination paper.
On January 4, the final day of scrutiny, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers examined 2,568 nomination papers across the country’s 300 constituencies. Of these, 1,842 were declared valid, while 723 were rejected.
According to the Election Commission’s notice on the filing, hearing and disposal of appeals, any candidate, bank, financial institution or government service provider dissatisfied with a returning officer’s decision may submit an appeal to the commission within five days of the scrutiny.
Each appeal must be submitted with one original set and six photocopies of the relevant documents. Appeals may be filed by candidates or their authorised representatives between January 5 and January 9, up to 5:00pm, at a designated centre set up in front of the EC building in Agargaon.
Hearings on the appeals will be held at the EC Auditorium in the basement of the commission building from January 10 to January 18 and will be conducted by the full commission.
According to the announced schedule, appeals numbered 1 to 70 will be heard on January 10, followed by 71 to 140 on January 11, 141 to 210 on January 12, 211 to 280 on January 13, 281 to 350 on January 14, 351 to 420 on January 15, 421 to 490 on January 16, 491 to 560 on January 17, and appeals numbered 561 onwards on January 18.
After the hearings, decisions will be displayed on monitors at the EC, while PDF copies of the rulings will be sent to the email addresses of Returning Officers and concerned parties and published on the commission’s website. Printed copies will also be made available through EC reception desks according to a fixed schedule, officials said.
