The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has cleared the legal hurdles for holding elections in the Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies on February 12.
The court ruled that the polls must proceed according to the boundaries established in the Election Commission’s (EC) September 4 gazette.
An Appellate Division bench, chaired by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, issued the order on Thursday. Under this ruling, the Pabna-1 constituency will consist of the entire Santhia upazila, while Pabna-2 will be formed by Sujanagar and Bera upazilas.
The decision resolves a complex legal dispute regarding the demarcation of these two parliamentary seats.
The EC had initially suspended the polls on January 10 following a January 5 Appellate Division order that paused a revised gazette. That revised gazette, issued on December 24, had attempted to restore previous boundaries in compliance with a High Court directive.
During the day's proceedings, Acting Attorney General Arshadur Rouf and Additional Attorney General Anik R Haque represented the Election Commission.
Barrister Imran Abdullah Siddique appeared on behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami, while Barrister HM Shanjid Siddique represented the BNP.
The legal battle intensified when Mohammad Najibur Rahman, a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Pabna-1, and the Election Commission filed petitions seeking a stay on the High Court's earlier verdict.
With the day’s Supreme Court order, the EC’s September 4 delimitation—which brought changes to 46 constituencies nationwide—stands valid for these two seats.
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