The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered the reinstatement of Jamaat-e-Islami's registration as a political party.
The Election Commission (EC) has been directed to implement the order without delay.
However, the court did not issue any order regarding the party’s electoral symbol, the scales.
The Appellate Division left the matter of the symbol to the discretion of the Election Commission.
On Sunday, a four-member Appellate Bench headed by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed delivered the verdict, overturning the previous High Court judgment on the matter.
Barrister Ehsan Abdullah Siddiq represented Jamaat-e-Islami in court, assisted by Barrister Imran Abdullah Siddiq, Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir, and Barrister Najib Momen.
Earlier, on August 1, 2013, the High Court had declared Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration illegal and void in response to a writ petition.
Following that, on December 7, 2018, the Election Commission issued a gazette officially cancelling Jamaat's registration. Jamaat-e-Islami later appealed the High Court’s ruling.
However, in November 2023, due to the absence of Jamaat’s principal counsel during the hearing, a six-member Appellate Division bench led by then chief justice Obaidul Hassan dismissed the appeal as "dismissed for default."
As a result, the High Court’s ruling declaring Jamaat’s registration invalid remained in effect.
After the fall of the Awami League-led government, Jamaat-e-Islami applied to have their appeal—seeking reinstatement of their registration—revived.
The Appellate Division accepted this petition. Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir appeared at the hearing on behalf of the party.
Later, the lawyer stated that they had applied to restore the appeal that was previously dismissed for default. On October 22 last year, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court heard the petition and ordered the revival of the appeal to restore Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration as a political party. According to the legal team, this opened a new legal path for Jamaat to regain its registration and electoral symbol, the scales. The order was issued by a four-member Appellate Bench led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed.
