The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Isami two months to prepare a concise statement of its appeal against a High Court verdict that scrapped its registration with the Election Commission.
The apex court said if Jamaat-e-Islami could not submit the concise statement in two months, its appeal would be defaulted (dismissed).
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order following a petition filed by the writ petitioner for hearing the appeal.
A concise statement contains the points on which the appellant's lawyers will place arguments before the court.
Senior lawyer Tania Amir appeared for the writ petitioner in the court hearing, while lawyer Joynal Abedin Tuhin represented the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Following a writ petition, the HC in a landmark verdict on August 1, 2013, declared Jamaat's registration with the EC illegal. The commission that same year suspended the registration of the political party.
Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, then secretary general of Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, along with 24 others filed a writ petition with the HC on January 25, 2009, seeking its order declaring Jamaat's registration illegal.
The petitioners said Jamaat was a religion-based political party and it didn't believe in the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
The EC scrapped the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami in October 2018, making it clear that the party will not be able to contest the upcoming national election.
In the verdict, two judges of the three-member HC bench declared the registration illegal. However, the other judge disagreed with the decision of his two colleagues. Jamaat then filed the appeal with the apex court challenging the HC verdict.
