The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today fixed May 13 for resuming hearing on Jamaat-e-Islami's appeal against a High Court verdict that scrapped its registration with the Election Commission as a political party.
A full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, set the date, said Jamaat's lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir.
Jamaat's appeal hearing began on March 12 this year following a significant development last October when the Appellate Division revived its previously dismissed appeal.
The revived appeal had earlier been set for hearing on September 1, a date fixed by the Chamber Judge's Court of the Appellate Division.
Jamaat lost its registration status when the High Court declared the party's registration illegal on August 1, 2013. The Election Commission later issued a notification cancelling the registration on December 7, 2018.
Jamaat challenged the High Court's verdict, but the appeal was dismissed in November last year by a six-member Appellate Division bench headed by the then Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan due to the absence of the party's lead counsel. As a result, the High Court's decision remained in force.
Amid political turbulence, Sheikh Hasina's government imposed a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, on August 1 under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act during the height of an anti-discrimination student movement.
The Home Ministry subsequently issued a notification banning the organizations. However, the decision was revoked later on August 28 and a new notification was issued withdrawing the ban.
