SC to hear plea seeking ban on Jamaat activities on Nov 12
Staff Reporter :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday set November 12 for holding hearing on a petition that sought a ban on the political activities of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a party that lost its registration with the Election Commission.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the order after hearing on the petition.
The apex court will also hold hearing on a contempt of court petition filed against Jamaat Amir (party chief), Secretary General and other central leaders of the organization on that day.
Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, Secretary General of Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, and two others filed the two petitions with the Appellate Division on June26.
Barrister Tania Amir, a lawyer of the petitioners, said, “We filed two petitions, one for seeking ban on political activities of Jamaat and another for seeking contempt charge against Jamaat leaders. The apex court said it will hold hearing on November 12 on the two petitions along with the main appeal petition filed against HC verdict that declared Jamaat registration illegal.”
On July 27 this year, forty-two citizens from different professions filed an application with the SC, seeking its permission to place arguments before it against Jamaat in connection with the pending contempt of court petition.
The applicants include academician and historian Syed Anwar Hossain; writer and researcher Shariar Kabir; educationist Shyamali Nasreen Choudhury; actor and theater producer Ramendu Majumder.
Later on August 1, a total of 47 supporters of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami sought permission from the Supreme Court to place arguments before it in favour of the party’s long pending appeal against a High Court verdict that scrapped its registration with the Election Commission.
The 47 applicants include Jamaat’s former lawmakers Dr Syed Abdullah Md Taher, Hamidur Rahman Azad and Hafeja Asma Khatun, Manarat University’s Vice Chancellor M Umar Ali and Dhaka University’s Prof Abdur Rab and three freedom fighters.
Following a writ petition, the HC on August 1, 2013, declared illegal Jamaat’s registration with the EC. The commission that same year suspended the registration of the political party.
