Attorney general: Hearing on Jamaat’s appeal against scrapping registration soon

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said that initiatives will be taken soon to begin hearing of the appeal by Jamaat-e-Islami against the High Court verdict that scrapped its registration as a political party.

“The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the High Court verdict regarding cancellation of Jamaat’s registration; it cannot operate as a political party,” the attorney general said at a press briefing at his office on Sunday.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently said that the appeal is pending at a court now, so an executive order cannot be passed in this regard. We will try to hold a hearing on the matter soon.”

The trial of war criminals will continue, the attorney general said, adding “It does not matter whether they seek apology or not.”

“What is the main aim of a political party? Go to power, right? They have to take part in elections to go to power. If the party has no ‘license’, then how can they take part in an election? The party that is willing to do politics with the approval of the Election Commission is called an underground party,” he said.

Mahbubey Alam further said the people will not accept such kind of politics, and the state, too, is not bound to provide any facility to them (party). “So the reality is, if you want to do politics, you have to have the permission of the Election Commission,” he added.

On October 29, 2018, the Election Commission scrapped the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami and issued a gazette notification, blocking the party from contesting the 11th national polls on December 30.