Writ petition filed in High Court seeking cancellation of referendum results

A writ petition has been filed in the High Court challenging the validity of the recently held referendum and seeking the cancellation of the referendum results announced on February 13.

Supreme Court lawyer ABM Ataul Majid Touhid informed reporters on Tuesday that the writ petition was submitted in the public interest. 

The Chief Election Commissioner, Cabinet Secretary, and Law Secretary have been named as respondents in the writ petition.

The High Court bench headed by Justice Fatema Najeeb is expected to hear the writ petition next week. 

In the referendum held on February 12, the vote in favour of the change, namely 'Yes', prevailed. 

The total voter turnout in this nationwide referendum stood at 60.26 percent.

EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed announced the results during a briefing at the Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon, in the capital, on February 13. 

Presenting the results in detail, the EC Secretary stated that 48 million 74 thousand 429 voters cast their votes for 'Yes' in favour of the change in the referendum. In contrast, 22 million 65 thousand 627 people voted 'No'.