A High Court division bench on Monday afternoon, ruled that the Election Commission's decision to reject the Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party)'s registration application last year was unlawful, arbitrary, whimsical, unreasonable, and in violation of constitutional fundamental rights and principles of fairness.

Justices Naima Haider and Kazi Zinat Haque made the rule absolute and directed the Election Commission to immediately register the AB Party as a political party under the Representation of the People Order 1972 and the Rules of Registration of Political Parties 2008.

Tajul Islam, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and Joint Convenor of the party, served as the chief counsel in the case, with assistance from Adv. Abdullah Al Mamun Rana and Barrister-at-Law Zubair Ahmed Bhuiyan, both Joint Member Secretaries.

Also present in court were Mojibur Rahman Monju, Member Secretary; Prof. Dr. Abdul Wahab Minar, a retired army major; BM Nazmul Hoque, Joint Convenor; Asaduzzaman Fuaad, Barrister-at-Law and Joint Member Secretary; and Helal Uddin, Didarul Alam, and retired Lieutenant Colonel, among others.

In a joint press briefing outside the court, Tajul Islam and Mojibur Rahman Monju recounted the lengthy and challenging registration process.

On May 26, 2022, the Election Commission (EC) issued a public notice inviting applications for political party registration.

The AB Party submitted over 20,000 pages of documentation on October 17, 2022. Despite being shortlisted among 12 out of 93 applicants, the EC unexpectedly rejected their application on July 24, 2023, citing unclear reasons.

Following this, the AB Party, under Convenor AFM Sulaiman Chowdhury, filed a 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 was made absolute by the High Court bench today.

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