The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A High Court Division Bench of the Supreme Court is expected to begin today the hearing of a writ petition filed by detained BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia challenging the Election Commission's letter inviting party Acting Secretary General Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed to its dialogue on electoral reforms.

The High Court Division Bench comprising Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Mamnur Rahman Chowdhury will hear the writ petition. The Bench on November 18 last year, issued a stay order against holding dialogue scheduled for November 22 between the Election Commission (EC) and leaders of the BNP faction led M Saifur Rahman and Major Hafiz.

The Bench also issued a rule against the EC upon the writ petition filed by Begum Zia, who prayed for the stay order saying the Acting Secretary General cannot represent her party, when there is a legitimate Secretary General (Khandaker Delwar Hossain) as per the BNP constitution.

Meanwhile, four members of the BNP National Standing Committee through separate affidavits, submitted on February 6 and February 7, informed the High Court that there was no meeting at the Gulshan residence of M Saifur Rahman on October 29 last year.

The four BNP leaders are-Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, M Shamsul Islam, Advocate Khondker Mahbub Uddin Ahmed and Dr RA Ghani.

"There was an invitation over a cup of tea at the residence of (senior) Standing Committee member M Saifur Rahman but, no meeting. As such there was no resolution," the four Standing Committee members said in their identical affidavits.

After a meeting at his residence on October 29 at midnight, M Saifur Rahman, who presided over the Standing Committee meet, told journalists that the meeting appointed him Acting Chairman and Major Hafiz Acting Secretary General.

Besides, the meeting also refrained from approving Begum Zia's expulsion orders against former Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Joint Secretary General Ashraf Hossain. As a result, the expulsion orders became invalidated, he added.

Saifur Rahman also informed the media that the meeting restored Mannan Bhuiyan's membership to the Standing Committee and Ashraf Hossain to his previous position.

But, the four members of Standing Committee, who submitted affidavits in the High Court extending their support to Begum Zia's contention, said the number of members present at Saifur Rahman's residence that night was much bellow 8, the minimum number required for quorum of a meeting of the National Standing Committee, a 15-members body.

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain and Acting Secretary General Maj Hafizuddin Ahmed yesterday expressed the hope separately that the High Court judgment would go infavour of their respective groups favour.