The Appellate Division on Thursday asked the election commission to maintain status-quo on allocation of symbol to online casino kingpin Selim Pradhan, who was allowed by the High Court Division to contest in May 21 Rupganj upazila parishad’ election as chairman candidate.
Appellate Division’s judge in chamber Justice M Enayetur Rahim halted Selim’s candidature after hearing his rival candidate Habibur Rahman’s appeal that the High Court on April 30 allowed Selim to contest the election illegally although he had not elapsed five years since he underwent his four-year jail term for amassing illegal wealth.       Â
Selim was arrested on September 30, 2021 and freed on bail on October 2, 2023, his lawyer Harunur Rashid told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·. Â
In his order, the chamber judge also set May 5 to hear by its full bench in the ACC’ appeal that challenged the legality of High Court’s order allowing Selim’s candidature.
The High Court allowed Selim’s candidature after hearing a writ petition filed by Selim challenging the returning officer’s April 23 decision for disqualifying him in the election and refusing to allocate any symbol.
On April 30, 2023, a Dhaka court jailed Selim Pradhan for four years on two counts of charges relating to amassing illegal wealth and laundering money abroad in a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission.
On October 27, 2019, the commission filed the case against Selim with its integrated district office Dhaka-1 on charge of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 12.27 crore.
The commission’s deputy director Gulshan Anowar Prodhan submitted the charge sheet against Salim on February 4, 2021.
According to the commission’s findings, Selim amassed movable and immovable wealth worth Tk 57.79 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Rapid Action Battalion arrested Selim from a Bangkok-bound flight at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on September 30, 2021.
Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the candidature of Selim Pradhan while an adjournment of the hearing was sought on behalf of Selim’s lawyer Shah Monjurul Hoque.