Print: 28 Oct 2025
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped a decade-old High Court verdict that had declared the registration of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party illegal.
A four-member bench, led by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, delivered the unanimous verdict allowing Jamaat's appeal and disposing of its leave-to-appeal petitions.
With the verdict, the legal obstacle barring the party from operating in politics has effectively been lifted.
In its order, the court stated that if the Jamaat’s registration issue or any related matter remains pending, the Election Commission (EC) must resolve those by fully exercising its constitutional and legal authority.
The ruling effectively overturned the High Court's majority verdict from 1 August 2013, which had declared Jamaat’s registration invalid based on the party’s charter and ideological positions that were deemed to contradict the Constitution.
The Appellate Division noted that the High Court’s 2013 judgment, which had made the rule absolute and declared Jamaat’s registration illegal, was “not justified.” Therefore, the court cancelled the judgment and order given by the High Court’s larger bench.
On 14 May, following a hearing on Jamaat’s appeal and leave-to-appeal petitions, the Supreme Court set 1 June for delivering the verdict, which was announced today shortly after 10:00 am.
Withdrawal of plea over 'Scales' symbol accepted
The Supreme Court also disposed of another petition concerning Jamaat’s demand for the return of the ‘scales’ electoral symbol, traditionally associated with the judiciary.
In December 2016, a full court meeting of Supreme Court judges decided that the 'scales' would be used solely as part of the apex court’s official monogram, and should not be allocated to any political party, organisation, or individual candidate. The EC was formally requested to ensure this through a letter from the Supreme Court administration.
Accordingly, the EC amended the electoral conduct rules in February 2017, updating the list of permissible electoral symbols to 64, excluding the 'scales'.
Jamaat filed an application on 12 May this year, challenging the full court decision and sought allocation of the symbol. However, on May 14, the party submitted another application seeking to withdraw the plea and urged the court to treat the symbol issue as a matter under EC jurisdiction.
In today’s ruling, the Appellate Division accepted the withdrawal without further observations.
Senior lawyers Ehsan S Siddique, Imran S Siddique, and Mohammad Shishir Manir represented the petitioner, while advocate Tawhidul Islam appeared for the Election Commission.
EC should now restore registration and symbol: Lawyer
Following the ruling, Jamaat’s lawyer Shishir Manir told reporters, “The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to promptly resolve Jamaat’s registration and any other related issues, which include the matter of electoral symbols.”
“With this verdict, Jamaat regains its registration, and the issue of the ‘scales’ symbol has been referred to the EC. We will now collect the certified short order and submit it to the Commission. We expect that the EC will promptly restore the registration and the symbol,” he added.
Background
The EC granted Jamaat registration as a political party in November 2008. In 2009, Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others filed a writ petition challenging the validity of this registration.
On 1 August 2013, a larger bench of the High Court, by majority opinion, declared Jamaat’s registration illegal but also permitted the party to file an appeal. Jamaat subsequently submitted both a regular appeal and a leave-to-appeal petition.
Following the High Court verdict, Jamaat sought a stay, which was rejected on 5 August 2013, by then-Chamber Judge Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury.
The EC officially cancelled Jamaat’s registration on December 7, 2018.
In November 2023, the Appellate Division dismissed the party’s appeal and leave-to-appeal for default due to the absence of legal representation.
Jamaat later filed a restoration petition, which was granted on October 22, 2023. The case was subsequently listed for hearing, which began on December 3. The petition regarding the ‘scales’ symbol was also tagged with the appeal and heard jointly on May 12 this year.
On August 1, 2024, during the previous Awami League government, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification banning Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir. That government fell on August 5 amid a mass uprising, and an interim government took charge on August 8.
The new administration later withdrew the ban, nullifying the previous notification.
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SC orders restoration of Jamaat's registration
SC overturns 2013 High Court verdict; EC instructed to resolve Jamaat’s registration and symbol issues under constitutional mandate
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped a decade-old High Court verdict that had declared the registration of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party illegal.
A four-member bench, led by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, delivered the unanimous verdict allowing Jamaat's appeal and disposing of its leave-to-appeal petitions.
With the verdict, the legal obstacle barring the party from operating in politics has effectively been lifted.
In its order, the court stated that if the Jamaat’s registration issue or any related matter remains pending, the Election Commission (EC) must resolve those by fully exercising its constitutional and legal authority.
The ruling effectively overturned the High Court's majority verdict from 1 August 2013, which had declared Jamaat’s registration invalid based on the party’s charter and ideological positions that were deemed to contradict the Constitution.
The Appellate Division noted that the High Court’s 2013 judgment, which had made the rule absolute and declared Jamaat’s registration illegal, was “not justified.” Therefore, the court cancelled the judgment and order given by the High Court’s larger bench.
On 14 May, following a hearing on Jamaat’s appeal and leave-to-appeal petitions, the Supreme Court set 1 June for delivering the verdict, which was announced today shortly after 10:00 am.
Withdrawal of plea over 'Scales' symbol accepted
The Supreme Court also disposed of another petition concerning Jamaat’s demand for the return of the ‘scales’ electoral symbol, traditionally associated with the judiciary.
In December 2016, a full court meeting of Supreme Court judges decided that the 'scales' would be used solely as part of the apex court’s official monogram, and should not be allocated to any political party, organisation, or individual candidate. The EC was formally requested to ensure this through a letter from the Supreme Court administration.
Accordingly, the EC amended the electoral conduct rules in February 2017, updating the list of permissible electoral symbols to 64, excluding the 'scales'.
Jamaat filed an application on 12 May this year, challenging the full court decision and sought allocation of the symbol. However, on May 14, the party submitted another application seeking to withdraw the plea and urged the court to treat the symbol issue as a matter under EC jurisdiction.
In today’s ruling, the Appellate Division accepted the withdrawal without further observations.
Senior lawyers Ehsan S Siddique, Imran S Siddique, and Mohammad Shishir Manir represented the petitioner, while advocate Tawhidul Islam appeared for the Election Commission.
EC should now restore registration and symbol: Lawyer
Following the ruling, Jamaat’s lawyer Shishir Manir told reporters, “The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to promptly resolve Jamaat’s registration and any other related issues, which include the matter of electoral symbols.”
“With this verdict, Jamaat regains its registration, and the issue of the ‘scales’ symbol has been referred to the EC. We will now collect the certified short order and submit it to the Commission. We expect that the EC will promptly restore the registration and the symbol,” he added.
Background
The EC granted Jamaat registration as a political party in November 2008. In 2009, Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others filed a writ petition challenging the validity of this registration.
On 1 August 2013, a larger bench of the High Court, by majority opinion, declared Jamaat’s registration illegal but also permitted the party to file an appeal. Jamaat subsequently submitted both a regular appeal and a leave-to-appeal petition.
Following the High Court verdict, Jamaat sought a stay, which was rejected on 5 August 2013, by then-Chamber Judge Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury.
The EC officially cancelled Jamaat’s registration on December 7, 2018.
In November 2023, the Appellate Division dismissed the party’s appeal and leave-to-appeal for default due to the absence of legal representation.
Jamaat later filed a restoration petition, which was granted on October 22, 2023. The case was subsequently listed for hearing, which began on December 3. The petition regarding the ‘scales’ symbol was also tagged with the appeal and heard jointly on May 12 this year.
On August 1, 2024, during the previous Awami League government, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification banning Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir. That government fell on August 5 amid a mass uprising, and an interim government took charge on August 8.
The new administration later withdrew the ban, nullifying the previous notification.