The High Court yesterday ordered a local returning officer to accept the nomination paper of Jamaat leader Golam Rabbani, a BNP-backed aspirant for Rangpur-5 constituency in the upcoming national election.

The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al Jalil passed the order following a writ petition filed by Rabbani, seeking necessary orders.

Earlier on November 28, the returning officer did not accept Rabbani's nomination paper, despite submitting all relevant documents, Advocate Shishir Monir, a lawyer for Rabbani, said.

“He [the returning officer] kept Rabbani waiting for a long time on the last day for filing nomination [papers],” the lawyer added.

Subsequently, a writ petition was filed by Rabbani, challenging the decision of the returning officer.

As per the Election Commission schedule, November 28 was the deadline to submit nomination papers, while December 2 for scrutiny and 9 for withdrawal.