Dhaka, June 30 -- Despite winning the vote for the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat, BNP candidate Aslam Chowdhury has been barred from taking office due to defaulting on a loan.

It was not clear from the decision whether the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate, who received the second-most votes, would be declared the winner automatically, or a fresh election would be held.

The four-member bench of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury scrapped Aslam's candidacy in a decision on Tuesday, suspending the results of the election.

Lawyers say that the Election Commission (EC) will decide its course of action once the full verdict is published.

Lawyers Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon r...