The High Court on Monday dismissed a writ petition challenging the legality of cancellation of Gazipur City Corporation’s (GCC) former mayor Jahangir Alam’s nomination paper for the mayoral post in the upcoming GCC election. The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Mohammad Mahbub-Ul-Alam rejected the petition saying that he was a loan defaulter till the submission day of the nomination paper which made him ineligible. Former Additional Attorney General MK Rahman appeared for the petitioner while Attorney General A M Amin Uddin for the state. Also Read: Cancellation of nomination: Ex Gazipur mayor Jahangir files petition at HC The writ petition was submitted to the HC bench concerned a week after Gazipur’s Returning Officer (RO) Faridul Islam cancelled his nomination paper in a primary scrutinization, as he is a “loan defaulter”. On May 4, Jahangir appealed to Dhaka divisional commissioner against the cancellation; the appeal was rejected on the same day. After being rejected, Jahangir moved the HC, challenging the cancellation. Also Read: Gazipur City polls: Ex-mayor Jahangir’s nomination cancelled; mother’s nomination valid On April 30, during primary scrutinization, Jahangir’s nomination was cancelled while his mother Zaida Khatun’s nomination was declared valid. Jahangir was the guarantor of an industrial organization. He was declared a loan defaulter along with the organization, the returning officer said. Though the former mayor and his counsel submitted documents demonstrating paying off the loan along with the nomination paper, the returning officer cancelled his nomination during the scrutinization.  

Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday because of staffing issues tied to COVID-19, disrupting holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year. FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted nearly 1,000 canceled flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped on Friday. Over 250 more flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are canceled. Delta, United and JetBlue had all said Friday that the omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to flight cancellations. United spokesperson Maddie King said staffing shortages were still causing cancellations and it was unclear when normal operations would return. “This was unexpected,” she said of omicron's impact on staffing. Delta and JetBlue did not respond to questions Saturday. According to FlightAware, the three airlines canceled more than 10% of their scheduled Saturday flights. American Airlines also canceled more than 90 flights Saturday, about 3% of its schedule, according to FlightAware. American spokesperson Derek Walls said the cancellations stemmed from “COVID-related sick calls." European and Australian airlines have also canceled holiday-season flights because of staffing problems tied to COVID-19. READ: Airlines cancel flights due to Covid staffing shortages For travelers, that meant time away from loved ones, chaos at the airport and the stress of spending hours standing in line and on the phone trying to rebook flights. Peter Bockman, a retired actor, and his daughter Malaika, a college student, were supposed to be in Senegal on Saturday celebrating with relatives they hadn't seen in a decade. But their 7:30 p.m. flight Friday from New York to Dakar was canceled, which they found out only when they got to the airport. They were there until 2 a.m. trying to rebook a flight. “Nobody was organizing, trying to sort things out,” he said, faulting Delta for a lack of customer service. “Nobody explained anything. Not even, ‘Oh we’re so sorry, this is what we can do to help you.’” Their new flight, for Monday evening, has a layover in Paris, and they are worried there will be issues with that one as well. They have already missed a big family get-together that was scheduled for Saturday. FlightAware's data shows airlines scrapped more than 6,000 flights globally for Friday, Saturday and Sunday combined as of Saturday evening, with almost one-third of affected flights to, from or within the United States. Chinese airlines made up many of the canceled flights, and Chinese airports topped FlightAware's lists of those with most cancellations. It wasn't clear why. China has strict pandemic control measures, including frequent lockdowns, and the government set one on Xi'an, a city of 13 million people, earlier this week. Air China, China Eastern and Lion Air, an Indonesian airline with many canceled flights, did not respond to emails Saturday. Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been a regular problem for the U.S. airline industry this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and were caught short-staffed this year as travel recovered. To ease staffing shortages, countries including Spain and the U.K. have reduced the length of COVID-19 quarantines by letting people return to work sooner after testing positive or being exposed to the virus. Delta CEO Ed Bastian was among those who have called on the Biden administration to take similar steps or risk further disruptions in air travel. On Thursday, the U.S. shortened COVID-19 isolation rules for health care workers only.

A writ petition was submitted before the High Court on Sunday seeking abolition of two provisions of the Evidence Act, 1872, which allow raising questions about the character of rape victims who are usually women. Lawyer Sara Hossain filed the petition on behalf of three rights organizations- Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Ain O Salish Kendra and Naripokkho before the HC bench of justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman. The petition sought a rule on why section 155 (4) and 146 (3) of the Evidence Act will not be deemed unconstitutional and not be abolished, said Sara Hossain. Also read: Brahman-breed cows: Writ filed seeking their release The lawyer said, “According to these sections woman who files complaint of rape and sexual harassment is generally presumed of immoral character and her character and background can be questioned and inquired in the court.” Rights groups have been campaigning against these provisions for long, said Sara adding that they are now seeking intervention from the High Court. She said the hearing on the petition is likely to be held next week. Also read: Writ seeks judicial inquiry into Banskhali shooting Section 155(4) of the act says, "When a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix was of generally immoral character.” Meanwhile section 146 (3) says during cross examination a witness can be questioned to shake his credit, by injuring his character, although the answer to such questions might tend directly or indirectly to criminate him or might expose or tend directly or indirectly to expose him to a penalty or confiscation.

A writ petition was filed with High Court on Sunday seeking cancellation of BNP's Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Tabith Awal’s nomination bringing allegation of concealing  wealth information in election affidavit.

A court here on Sunday fixed February 2 for further hearing on a petition seeking cancellation of Aysha Siddika Minni’s bail in a case filed over the murder of her husband Rifat Sharif.