Breaking news: Lutfur Rahman wins right to appeal “spiritual influence”

Lutfur Rahman’s lawyers attended the High Court today to ask the Court for permission to apply for a Judicial Review into the Election Court’s ruling earlier this year that Lutfur Rahman should be removed from office.

They were granted permission to apply for a Review of the Election Court’s decision that Lutfur Rahman’s election was invalid because 101 Muslim clerics had written a letter calling on Muslims to vote for him. The Election Court deemed this to be “undue spiritual influence”, using a law which had last been used against Irish Catholics at the end of the 19th Century.

It is not known when the Judicial Review will be heard.

The lawyers had asked for a Judicial Review to be conducted into other aspects of the Court’s ruling, but applications on other grounds were dismissed. If the Judicial Review is successful, the Election Court’s ruling on the matter of spiritual influence will be overturned. However, the Election Court made other rulings which led to Lutfur Rahman being removed from office, and that overall decision to remove him from office would not be overturned. This raises serious questions about the standards of evidence needed in the Election Court.

More news as we get it.