Vote-buying scandal: Hearing of Nipun Akter’s appeal against Zayed Khan on Wednesday


FE Team | Published: February 08, 2022 17:32:55 | Updated: February 09, 2022 10:59:06


Vote-buying scandal: Hearing of Nipun Akter’s appeal against Zayed Khan on Wednesday

The Appellate Division chamber judge will hear actress Nipun Akter’s appeal against the High Court stay on the Bangladesh Film Artistes Association’s decision to scrap the candidacy of actor Zayed Khan on Wednesday.

The appeal was filed on Tuesday morning at the Appellate Division. The matter was raised to Chamber Judge Justice Obaidul Hassan in the afternoon and he set Wednesday for the hearing, according to Nipun’s lawyer Mostafizur Rahman Khan, reports bdnews24.com.

On Monday, the High Court issued a stay on the BFAA’s decision to scrap the candidacy of Zayed Khan for the organisation’s general secretary post based on allegations of vote-buying after the initial hearing of a petition filed by Zayed Khan.

The court ordered the authorities not to block Zayed from performing his duties as general secretary.

The High Court also issued a rule asking why the board’s decision to cancel Khan’s candidacy should not be declared illegal. The board and concerned authorities from the Department of Social Welfare were asked to respond to the rule.

Zayed Khan said he received ‘justice’ through the High Court order.

“I would like to thank the court. I won a free and fair election. All of Nipun’s complaints were concocted.”

Nipun’s lawyer had said she would appeal the decision.

On Jan 29, Ilias Kanchan won the president’s post and Zayed Khan the general secretary post in the BFAA election. Nipun, who was defeated, fought the decision.

Following her complaint, Sohanur Rahman Sohan, the chairman of the appeals board of the organisation, investigated allegations of vote-buying, declared them to be true, cancelled Zayed’s candidacy, and announced Nipun as the winner.

As Zayed’s candidacy was scrapped, the runner-up in the race was declared the winner, he said.

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