Next hearing on Jamaat-e-Islami’s bid to regain registration set for Wednesday

The next hearing on Jamaat-e-Islami’s appeal against a High Court verdict cancelling its registration as a political party has been scheduled for Wednesday.

The hearing began on Tuesday before a four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.

Lawyer Ehsan Abdullah Siddique represented Jamaat while Touhidul Islam argued for the Election Commission (EC).

After the day’s proceedings, Jamaat’s lawyer Md Shishir Manir said: “The way the High Court cancelled the registration was premature because the matter was still pending before the Election Commission.

“A court cannot cancel something that is under consideration by the EC.”

Referring to the party’s symbol, he said: “Jamaat-e-Islami used the ‘weighing scale’ as its electoral symbol since its inception. The party contested parliamentary elections with this symbol.

“But suddenly, based on a decision of a full court meeting, the party was barred from using it.”

Shishir added, “There is no precedent in the Indian subcontinent of a court cancelling a party’s registration. This is the first case of its kind.”

On behalf of the EC, Touhidul said: “We were in the process of verifying Jamaat’s registration application when the High Court intervened. That prevented us from proceeding.

“Now we are waiting for the Appellate Division’s verdict. Whatever is decided there will be implemented.”

He said a Supreme Court full court meeting in 2016 decided that the “weighing scale” symbol belongs to the judiciary and cannot be allocated to anyone else.

The decision was then forwarded to the EC, which removed the symbol from the approved list.

Jamaat has now raised the issue again.

“Since this was a full court decision, the Appellate Division has indicated it cannot override it,” Touhidul added.

A total of 25 people, including Bangladesh Tarikat Federation’s Secretary General Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, Zaker Party Secretary General Munshi Abdul Latif, and Sammalito Islami Oikya Jote’s President Ziaul Hasan filed a writ petition challenging Jamaat’s registration on Jan 25, 2009.

The bench of High Court justices M Enayetur Rahim and Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque cancelled the registration of Jamaat in the verdict of the appeal on Aug 1, 2013.

The top court dismissed an appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami seeking a freeze on the High Court verdict on Aug 5 of that year.

Following the publication of the full verdict, the EC formally cancelled Jamaat’s registration on Oct 29, 2018, effectively preventing the party from contesting elections under its symbol.

Jamaat later appealed, but the petition was dismissed on Nov 19, 2023, by a six-judge Appellate Division bench led by the then chief justice Obaidul Hassan due to the absence of the party’s principal counsel.

Following the fall of the Awami League government and a shift in the political atmosphere, Jamaat filed for revival of the appeal.

On Aug 24 last year, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal to be reinstated, reopening the legal path for Jamaat to reclaim its political registration.

Based on a petition from counsel Shishir, the full bench of the Appellate Division fixed May 7 for the new hearing.

“Cancelling Jamaat’s registration has created uncertainty in the democratic process,” he argued.

The party had been banned in the final days of the previous Awami League government over alleged links to violence during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

The ban was lifted by the caretaker government currently in charge, following a request from Jamaat.

If Jamaat regains its registration from the EC, the party — which shared power with the BNP from 2001 to 2006 — will also regain the right to contest elections.