Hearing Today on Jamaat's Appeal to Restore Registration
The hearing on the appeal filed by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami against the cancellation of its registration is scheduled for today. On Tuesday (January 14), the hearing is expected to take place before a five-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refat Ahmed.
Previously, on December 3, the High Court began hearing the appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami against the verdict that canceled its registration as a political party. After the first day of the hearing, the court set December 10 for the next hearing, and subsequently, today’s date was fixed for further proceedings. On that day, lawyers Barrister Ehsan S. Siddique and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir were present during the hearing.
Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir explained that during the first day of the hearing, it was argued that the petitioners who filed the writ did so in the name of public interest. However, it was not genuinely in public interest but rather for political purposes. The petitioners lacked the authority to file such a writ, and their actions were driven by personal and political interests, not public welfare.
He further mentioned that another key issue raised was that the writ was filed before the election process and registration process were concluded by the Election Commission. The matter was still under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission at the time. These points were argued, and both the Election Commission and the opposing party were instructed to be prepared for the hearing.
On October 22, a four-judge bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed, issued an order to revive the appeal seeking to restore Jamaat-e-Islami’s canceled registration.
On that day, Advocate Shishir Monir stated that the Appellate Division allowed the appeal to be revived after condoning the delay. He mentioned that they would bring the appeal for a hearing and that a new appellant would be substituted since the original appellant had passed away, following which a new hearing application would be submitted.
Monir explained that this is a certificate appeal, and the High Court had issued a certificate indicating that constitutional issues were involved. Unlike regular appeals, this appeal could proceed directly without leave to appeal. Since the High Court issued the certificate, the case could not be dismissed without a hearing. Therefore, the delay was excused, and the appeal revival application was granted.
He added that the opposing party had no objections to the appeal’s revival. During the appeal hearing, the issue of the election symbol would also be addressed. If the appeal is granted, it is expected that the registration will be restored along with the election symbol.
On November 19 of the previous year, an appellate bench led by then-Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan dismissed Jamaat’s appeal for default as the lawyers were not present.
Earlier, on August 1, during the tenure of the previous Awami League government, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette banning Jamaat-Shibir.
Following the fall of the Awami League government amid intense student and public protests, an application was filed in the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division to revive the dismissed appeal seeking the restoration of Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration as a political party.
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