The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday barred the official publication of election results of three Bangladesh Nationalist Party–nominated candidates in the parliamentary elections until it hears further and disposes of appeals challenging their candidacies.

The candidates are Aslam Chowdhury of Chattogram-4, Sarwar Alamgir of Chattogram-2, and Fahim Chowdhury of Sherpur-3.

According to the leave-to-appeal petitions, Aslam Chowdhury and Sarwar Alamgir are alleged loan defaulters, while Fahim Chowdhury allegedly holds dual citizenship.

The petitions were filed by rival candidates nominated by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, challenging High Court verdicts that had earlier allowed the three candidates to contest the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on February 12.

After hearing the separate petitions, a full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by chief justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, granted leave to appeal.

The court directed that the three candidates may participate in the elections, but their results must not be published until the appeals are heard and disposed of.

Senior advocates Ahsanul Karim, Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal, Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Khan, and Barrister Kazi Akhtar Hossain appeared for BNP candidates.

Advocate Mohammad Hossain and Advocate Azim Uddin Patwary represented Jamaat and the banks.