The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today postponed the hearing for one week on an appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami, which challenges a High Court verdict that annulled its registration with the Election Commission as a political party.
The apex court scheduled January 21 for the continuation of the hearing after concluding today’s proceedings.
Earlier in the day, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, resumed the second day’s hearing on the appeal, during which Jamaat’s lawyer Ehsan A Siddiq presented arguments.
On October 22 last year, the apex court reinstated the appeal for a hearing after Jamaat-e-Islami filed a restoration petition.
On that occasion, another Jamaat lawyer, Mohammad Shishir Manir, told The Daily Star, “If the Appellate Division allows the appeal after hearing it, Jamaat will regain its registration and become eligible to participate in elections.”
On September 1 last year, Jamaat Secretary General Miah Golam Parwar, through lawyer Shishir Manir, submitted the restoration petition to the apex court, seeking necessary directives.
Previously, on November 19, 2023, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the then Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, dismissed Jamaat’s appeal “for default” due to the absence of its counsel on the day of the hearing.
The issue dates back to January 25, 2009, when Maulana Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, secretary general of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, along with 24 others, filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking to declare Jamaat’s registration illegal.
The petitioners argued that Jamaat-e-Islami is a religion-based political party that does not adhere to the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
In response, the High Court, on August 1, 2013, declared Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission illegal.
Subsequently, the Election Commission revoked Jamaat’s registration in October 2018, ahead of the 11th national election.
The High Court verdict was based on a split decision by a three-member bench, with two judges declaring the registration illegal, while the third dissented.
Jamaat filed an appeal with the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s verdict at the time.
