Effectiveness of the historical judgement of the High Court (HC) passed on September 14, 2003 has ostensibly been lost due to the death of the petitioner Shudangsu Shekhor Halder, who contested against Sayedee from the parliamentary constituency of Pirojpur 1 in 2001 election. Halder died in September 2004 after a year of bout with ill health.

The HC Division stripped ruling Jamaat-e-Islami leader Sayedee of his membership of the parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) for submitting a false statement on his poll expenses and for violating other election rules. It declared Sayedee's election from Pirojpur-1 constituency null and void for corruption, illegal practices and violation of the Representation of People's Order 1972, setting the first ever example of unseating a lawmaker by the HC in an election dispute case.

Sayedee filed a petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on September 15, 2003 to grant him permission to appeal against the HC judgement.

The vacation bench of the Appellate Division on September 17, 2003 stayed the HC judgement until October 22 of the same year and asked Sayedee to submit a regular petition by that time.

Sources at the Supreme Court's registrar's office said the regular petition filed by Sayedee remains pending still. Officials at the registrar's office could not confirm whether any hearing had been held for disposal of the petition. "No progress after the filing of the petition. We can only say, it is still pending," a senior official told The Daily Star yesterday.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Jamaat lawmaker Sayedee however said he does not know whether any hearing was held on the petition or not.

"I know, the Appellate Division has stayed the judgement until the next parliamentary election," Saydee, also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Religious Affairs, claimed adding, "There is no new complexity about it."

About the effectiveness of the HC judgement, Justice Ghulam Rabbani, former judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, said since the respondent to the leave petition filed by Delwar Hossain Sayedee is now dead, the proceedings of the leave petition has 'abated'. "And the order that stayed the High Court judgement has also 'abated'. A formal order is not necessary to be passed in this regard by the Appellate Division," Justice Rabbani told The Daily Star yesterday.

"Any person specially a voter of that constituency can file a writ petition with the High Court," he said.

Referring to the election laws that say an election petition shall 'abate' on the death of a sole petitioner or of the sole survivor of several petitioners, Justice TH Khan, counsel of Sayedee who moved for him in the Appellate Division, said, "So, the original dispute has 'abated'."

"The High Court judgement has no effectiveness as the original dispute has 'abated'," Justice Khan told The Daily Star yesterday.

Justice Rabbani however contradicted Justice Khan and said, "It is a fallacy to say that the judgement has 'abated' without an order passed by the High Court."

According to law, a judgement, order or decree passed cannot 'abate'. "Only a proceeding 'abates' if, while it is pending, one of the parties or both the parties die. A judgement passed by any competent court cannot 'abate', it can only be set aside by a higher court." said Justice Rabbani.

About the effectiveness of the HC judgement, Justice Naimuddin Ahmed, also a former election commissioner, said the stay order has made the judgement inoperative. "The High Court judgement will lose its significance as soon as the tenure of the current parliament expires," he told The Daily Star. He said these kinds of cases should be given urgent priority for disposal.

After the 2001 election, Halder filed the petition with the HC on November 14 -- 44 days after the polls -- against the chief election commissioner (CEC), Sayedee and nine others with a plea to declare himself as the elected representative by cancelling his rival's membership of the parliament.

The court in its judgement found Sayedee guilty on several counts of concealing the sources of his election fund, spending of more money than Tk 5 lakh ceiling set by the election laws, and failure to send an affidavit along with his poll expenses to the Election Commission (EC).

The HC directed the authorities to send its order to the EC by a special messenger for necessary action. On receipt of the order, the EC was supposed to announce the seat vacant and hold by-polls within 90 days.

According to the election laws, a person, guilty of corrupt practice, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term, which may extend to seven years and shall not be less than two years, and also with fines. The HC in its judgement however did not mention anything about the punishment.

Halder also filed another case with an election tribunal against Jamaat leader Sayedee charging him with breaching the election code of conduct, and rigging of the polls for the seventh parliament, which preceded the current parliament.

The case was dismissed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after the tenure of the seventh parliament elapsed.