Thirty-five defeated candidates from the 13th National Parliamentary Election have filed separate petitions in the High Court, alleging irregularities in the voting process. The petitions were accepted by the single bench of Justice Md Zakir Hossain, who ordered the Election Commission to preserve ballots, CCTV footage, and other relevant materials. Notices were also issued to the winning candidates.

Among the petitioners are 21 candidates from the BNP, 12 from Jamaat-e-Islami, and one each from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and the Liberal Democratic Party. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Ruhul Quddus Kajol represented two of the BNP candidates in hearings concerning Dhaka-16 and Dhaka-4 constituencies. The petitions include allegations that law enforcement officials aided winning candidates and that presiding officers themselves stamped ballots, with some polling centers reportedly canceling unusually high numbers of ballots.

Under Section 49 of the Representation of the People Order, the Chief Justice designated Justice Md Zakir Hossain’s bench to hear these election-related petitions.