The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled May 13 to resume the hearing of Jamaat-e-Islami’s appeal against a High Court verdict that cancelled its registration as a political party.

A full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, fixed the date on Tuesday, according to Jamaat’s counsel, Mohammad Shishir Manir.

The appeal hearing formally commenced on March 12 this year, following a significant development in October 2023, when the Appellate Division revived Jamaat’s previously dismissed appeal. 

That appeal had earlier been set for hearing on September 1 by the Chamber Judge's Court.

Jamaat lost its status as a registered political party after the High Court declared its registration illegal on August 1, 2013. 

The Election Commission subsequently issued a notification cancelling the party’s registration on December 7, 2018.

Jamaat initially challenged the High Court ruling, but the appeal was dismissed in November 2023 by a six-member Appellate Division bench led by then Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan. 

The dismissal came after the party’s lead counsel failed to appear in court, leaving the High Court decision intact.

The legal proceedings come amid heightened political sensitivity. On August 1 last year, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government imposed a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, citing national security concerns during a wave of student-led anti-discrimination protests.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a formal notification enforcing the ban. However, the decision was later reversed on August 28, with a second notification withdrawing the proscription.

SMS/