The application for a rehearing of the appeal against a High Court verdict, which declared the registration of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami illegal, has been scheduled for hearing on October 21.
Chamber Justice of the Appellate Division, Ashfaqul Islam, issued the order on Sunday.
Lawyer Md Shishir Monir, who represented the application in court, said the application will be heard before the full bench of the Appellate Division.
In November 2023, the Appellate Division dismissed the party's appeal against the High Court's verdict canceling Jamaat's registration as a political party. The party has since requested to revive the dismissed appeal, with the hearing now set for October 21.
Lawyer Shishir Monir said that the application to restore the appeal, which was dismissed for default, was submitted to the Chamber Court of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Following the hearing, the Chamber Court fixed October 21 as the date. Earlier that morning, he had filed the application with the relevant branch of the Appellate Division.
On November 19 of last year, the Appellate Bench, led by the then Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan, dismissed the Jamaat appeal due to the lawyer's absence. After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, following intense student protests, a request was made to revive the appeal that had been rejected by the Appellate Division, aiming to restore Jamaat's registration as a political party.
Regarding the dismissal of the appeal on November 19 last year, Advocate Matiur Rahman Akand, publicity affairs secretary of Jamaat, said that due to the ongoing political situation in the country and the strike, their senior lawyer had requested a postponement of the hearing. However, the court did not consider the adjournment request and dismissed the appeal for default.
The Appellate Division's decision also upheld the High Court's verdict canceling Jamaat’s registration and said they would decide on the appropriate legal actions to take based on Jamaat's next steps. The High Court had originally canceled Jamaat's registration and declared it invalid on August 1, 2013, in response to a writ petition.
The Awami League government returned to power in January 2024. The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement protests against the quota system began in July. Accusing the government of genocide during the movement, the students demanded its resignation. On August 1, the government banned Jamaat, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and associated organizations. After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, Jamaat initiated efforts to overturn the ban. On August 28, the government revoked the ban order.
Regarding this development, Lawyer Shishir Monir said on Saturday: "Our first step was to cancel the ban order, and it has been canceled. Now, the next step is to apply for a rehearing of the registration case in the Appellate Division."
‘Registration will be returned with symbol’
The party hopes that Jamaat will regain its registration along with its symbol.
Publicity Affairs Secretary Advocate Matiur Rahman Akand told journalists: "A political party is registered with a symbol, and we hope that the Jamaat-e-Islami party will regain its registration along with this symbol."
Jamaat lawyer Shishir Monir said: "If the reason for canceling a political party's registration is that it operates based on religion, such behavior is not banned anywhere else in the world. Jamaat is a democratic party that has been represented in all parliaments of Bangladesh. Therefore, there should be no reason to cancel the registration of any party. This is against Article 38 of the Constitution of Bangladesh."
