A High Court division bench ruled, on Monday afternoon, the decision of the Election Commission refusing the application of Amar Bangladesh Party, AB Party, to get registered as a political party last year as unlawful, arbitrary, whimsical, unreasonable and contrary to the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution and principle of fairness.
Madam Justice Naima Hayder and Madam Justice Kazi Zinat Haque made the rule absolute this afternoon and ordered the Election Commission to register the AB Party as a political party forthwith under the Representation of People’s Order 1972 and Rules of Registration of Political Parties 2008.
Tajul Islam, a prominent lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and a Joint Convenor of the party, acted as a chief counsel in the matter and was assisted by Adv Abdullah Al Mamun Rana and Zubair Ahmed Bhuiyan, a barrister-at-law, both Joint Member Secretary.
Mojibur Rahman Monju, Member Secretary, Prof Dr Abdul Wahab Minar, a retired army major, BM Nazmul Hoque, both Joint Convenor, Asaduzzaman Fuaad, a barrister-at-law and Joint Member Secretary, Helal Uddin, Didarul Alam, retired lieutenant colonel, were also, amongst others, present at the court, reads a press release.
Tajul Islam and Mojibur Rahman Monju, in a joint press briefing outside, reminded the long and arduous journey of the registration process.
On May 26, 2022, the EC invited, by public notification, prospective political parties to apply to get registered as political parties. AB Party submitted over 20 thousand pages of documentation to the EC on October 17, 2022.
The EC announced a shortlist of 12 political parties out of 93 applicants.
Nevertheless, the EC, to everyone’s surprise, rejected the application on 24 July 2023 on various ambiguous terms. AB Party, under the instruction of the Convenor, AFM Sulaiman Chowdhury, has submitted the writ petition on August 23, 2023.
On August 31, 2023, a divisional bench consisting of Justice K M Qamrul Qader and Justice Md Shaukat Ali Chowdhury, issued an interim rule which is made absolute today by the HC bench.
