The High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered the authorities concerned to accept nomination paper of the younger brother of ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, as a chairman candidate in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila parishad election slated for May 29.

An HC bench of Justice Md. Iqbal Kabir and Justice Md. Akhtaruzzaman passed the order after hearing an appeal submitted by the candidate challenging the cancellation of the nomination paper by the district’s returning officer earlier.

Lawyers Ekramul Haq Tutul and Tamanna Ferdous stood for the chairman candidate while Barristers Khan Md Hammad Shamim and Ashfaqur Rahman represented the state during the hearing.

According to the prosecution four people including Quader’s younger brother Shahadat Hossain submitted nomination papers to contest the third phase of the upazila parishad election to be held on May 29.

The remaining candidates were Upazila Jubo League’s former convenor and businessman Mohammad Golam Sharif Chowdhury Piplu, former upazila parishad chairman and upazila Awami League’s incumbent General Secretary Mizanur Rahman Badal and US expatriate Omar Ali.

On May 5, Shahadat’s nomination paper was rejected on charge of concealing information regarding cases and income in the submitted affidavit during scrutiny.

Later, he submitted an appeal to Noakhali’s deputy commissioner and returning officer Dewan Mahbubur Rahman who also kept the cancellation order unchanged after a hearing on May 9.

After being aggrieved, Shahadat Hossain submitted a petition to the HC seeking a settlement on this issue.

Another younger brother of Obaidul, Abdul Quader Mirza, is mayor of Companiganj’s Bashurhat municipality, who became headline news for his controversial remarks about the Awami League and others several times.