Faizul Karim demands resignation of CEC; serves legal notice seeking Tk 500cr as compensation

Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Senior Nayeb-e-Amir Syed Faizul Karim on Thursday served a legal notice on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, seeking Tk 500 crore as compensation and his resignation for his ‘irresponsible and derogatory comment’ during BCC polls.

Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Mohammed Abdul Baset sent the legal notice on behalf of Syed Faizul Karim.

In the legal notice, Kazi Habibul Awal was asked to resign from the post of CEC after paying Tk 500 crore in compensation within seven days of receiving the notice.
The notice said that about 30-40 leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League attacked on Faizul Karim, who contested as a mayoral candidate in Barishal City Corporation (BCC) election, on the election day (June 12) when he went to visit the polling centres.

However, despite informing the presiding officer and the local police administration, necessary security measures were not taken regarding the issue, it reads, UNB reports.

“Later, when journalists asked the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, he ignored this matter,” the notice reads.

Because of this statement, he lost the moral and legal right to serve as the head of a constitutional institution of the state, it says.

“Your above statement in response to a question from a journalist about the planned attack on Mufti Syed Md Faizul Karim is irresponsible…and illegal, which resulted in irreparable physical, emotional, social and political damage to my client (you are responsible for it). Moreover, his reputation and image have also suffered… His estimated loss is Tk 500 crore,” the notice reads.

“In such a situation, you, the notice recipient, will withdraw the above irresponsible, unethical statements and publish it in the national dailies–print and electronic media —within the seven days of receiving the notice”, it says.

“Additionally, you will resign from the post of the ‘Chief Election Commissioner’ and pay my client Tk 500 crore as compensation.”

“Otherwise, at the end of the notice period, my client will be compelled to take all necessary legal action against the notice recipient in the appropriate court under the prevailing laws of the country,” it says.