The Appellate Division has ruled that Bagerhat will have four parliamentary seats and Gazipur will have five seats. The full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refat Ahmed gave the verdict on Wednesday (December 10).

Earlier, the High Court announced its verdict on November 10 after the final hearing of a writ petition filed against the validity of the Election Commission (EC) gazette notification regarding the reduction of parliamentary seats from four to three in Bagerhat. The verdict directed the Election Commission to publish the gazette notification within 24 hours, restoring four parliamentary seats in Bagerhat and five seats in Gazipur.

Immediately after the High Court’s verdict was announced, the Election Commission (EC) and Md. Salah Uddin Sarkar, a candidate from Gazipur-6 constituency, filed separate petitions in the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the verdict. The two petitions were filed in the Appellate Division’s Chamber Court on November 12. On that day, the court fixed the two petitions for hearing in the regular bench of the Appellate Division on November 16. It was also asked to maintain the status quo during this period.

In the previous sequence, the two applications were heard in the regular bench of the Appellate Division on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the full judgment of the High Court was published on the Supreme Court website on December 3. After the publication of the full judgment, the Election Commission and the president of Tongi East Thana BNP, Sarkar Jabed Ahmed, who is seeking nomination from the Gazipur-6 constituency, filed separate leave to appeals. Hafizur Rahman, a potential candidate of Jamaat from the Gazipur-6 constituency, had earlier filed an application in the Appellate Division. The separate leave to appeals and applications against the High Court judgment were heard together.

Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, accompanied by the commission’s lawyer Kamal Hossain Miyaji, heard the case on behalf of the Election Commission. Senior lawyer M. Badruddoza Badal heard the case on behalf of Sarkar Jabed Ahmed, and senior lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan heard the case on behalf of Salah Uddin Sarkar. Senior lawyer Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain heard the case on behalf of the writ petitioners. Senior lawyer Muhammad Belayet Hossain was present on behalf of Hafizur Rahman.

Ahead of the 13th National Parliament election, the Election Commission initially proposed reducing Bagerhat’s four constituencies to three on July 30. Rejecting the proposal, various political parties launched a movement. They formed an all-party joint committee and held various programs, including strikes and blockades.

The Election Commission published the final gazette regarding this on September 4. In this, Bagerhat was divided into three constituencies by reducing one from the four constituencies. Challenging its validity, Bagerhat Press Club, Bagerhat District BNP, District Jamaat-e-Islami, Bagerhat District Lawyers Association, Save the Sundarbans Foundation, Bagerhat District Truck Tanklorry Covered Van Owners Association and BNP’s nominated candidate from Bagerhat-1 constituency in the 2018 elections, Md. Sheikh Masud Rana filed a writ petition. After the initial hearing, the High Court issued a rule on September 16. After the final hearing, the High Court declared the rule absolute and delivered its verdict on November 10.

The writ petitioner stated that there were four seats in Bagerhat earlier, one was reduced and one seat was increased in Gazipur. Bagerhat-4 seats were reduced to Gazipur-6 seats. Since 1972, elections have been held in four parliamentary seats in Bagerhat. Accordingly, Bagerhat-1 consisted of Chitalmari-Mollahat-Fakirhat upazilas; Bagerhat-2 consisted of Bagerhat Sadar-Kachua upazilas; Bagerhat-3 consisted of Rampal-Mongla upazilas and Bagerhat-4 consisted of Morelganj-Sharankhola upazilas.

The High Court has ordered the Election Commission to publish a gazette within 24 hours, restoring four parliamentary constituencies in Bagerhat. The verdict said that based on the latest 2022 census, parliamentary constituencies number 95 (Bagerhat-1), seat number 96 (Bagerhat-2), seat number 97 (Bagerhat-3) and seat number 98 (Bagerhat-4) were restored as per the gazette mentioned on July 1, 2023.

The verdict said that the part of the gazette notification (EC notification) of September 4 attached to the writ petition related to the formation of parliamentary constituencies number 95 (Bagerhat-1), seat number 96 (Bagerhat-2), seat number 97 (Bagerhat-3) and seat number 198 (Gazipur-6) was declared illegal and beyond legal authority.