Bagerhat keeps 4 seats, Gazipur retains 5: Appellate Division

The Appellate Division on Wednesday ruled that Bagerhat district will retain its four parliamentary seats, while Gazipur will continue with five.

The seven-member full bench, headed by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order.

Earlier, on November 10, a High Court (HC) ruling restored Bagerhat’s four seats and Gazipur five, rejecting a decision by the Election Commission (EC) to reduce Bagerhat’s seats from four to three.

The HC also directed the EC to publish the updated gazette within 24 hours on that day.

Shortly after the order, the EC and Md Salah Uddin Sarkar, a candidate from Ghazipur-6, filed separate petitions with the Appellate Division seeking a stay order on the ruling.

On November 12, both appeals were first heard at the Appellate Division’s chamber court, which scheduled a full hearing for November 16 and ordered the status quo in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the full HC verdict was published on the Supreme Court website on December 3.

Following this, the EC and Gazipur-6 aspirant Sarkar Jabed Ahmed submitted two separate leave to appeals with the Appellate Division.

Jamaat-e-Islami-nominated candidate Hafizur Rahman had also filed an appeal earlier. All these petitions were heard together.

Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman represented the EC, while senior lawyer M Badruddoza Badal appeared for Jabed Ahmed while senior lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan represented Salah Uddin Sarkar.

Ahead of the 13th parliamentary election, the EC had initially proposed on July 30 to reduce Bagerhat’s seats from four to three, igniting protests from political parties.

On September 4, the EC issued the final gazette formalising the dropping Bagerhat seats from four to three.

Bagerhat Press Club, Bagerhat district BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and other groups had submitted petitions challenging the legality of the EC gazette.