Oath of 290 MPs: Appeal hearing on validity adjourned till Sunday

The Appellate Division has postponed the hearing of the leave-to appeal filed against the dismissal of the writ regarding the validity of the oath of 290 parliamentarians after the 11th National Parliament election until next Sunday (July 30).

BNP leader and lawyer Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon's application was adjourned after 1 hour of hearing in the 7-member appeal bench headed by the Chief Justice on Thursday (July 27) morning.

On before January 3, 2019, 290 members of the 11th National Parliament took oath. Before this, the 11th National Parliament election was held on December 30, 2018.

And on January 5, 2014, the tenth national parliament election was held. Those elected were sworn in on January 9 of that year. The first meeting of that Parliament was held on January 29 of the same year.

According to Article 72 (3) of the Constitution, the term of Parliament shall be five years from the first sitting of Parliament. Therefore, the term of the 10th parliament has not ended up. Lawyer said, the tenth parliament was sworn in before the end of its term. 

Reagrding the issue Lawyer Taherul Islam Touhid filed a petition in the High Court on January 14, 2019 to challenge the validity of the oath taken by 290 members of the 11th Parliament.

After hearing that writ, the High Court dismissed the writ filed on February 18, 2019 challenging the validity of the oath taken by the elected members of the 11th National Parliament.

Thereafter, the writ petitioner filed leave to appeal against the judgment of the High Court on September 20, 2019