HC declares EC gazette illegal, retains four constituencies in Bagerhat

The High Court has declared illegal the Election Commission’s gazette reducing Bagerhat’s four constituencies to three and has ordered that all four parliamentary seats in Bagerhat remain intact.

The bench of Justice Shashanka Shekhar Sarkar and Justice K M Zahid Sarwar Kajol delivered the verdict on Monday, November 10.

The order came after the final hearing on the rule issued in this regard. Barrister Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain argued for the writ petition in court.

On September 16, the HC had issued a rule questioning why the EC's gazette reducing Bagerhat's four seats to three should not be declared illegal, and why the commission should not be directed to maintain the four constituencies. That rule was issued by the bench of Justice Md Mujibur Rahman Mia and Justice Bishwajit Debnath.

Earlier, two writ petitions were filed with the HC demanding the retention of four parliamentary seats in Bagerhat. The petitions were submitted by Bagerhat Press Club, District Lawyers Association, District BNP, District Jamaat-e-Islami, District Islamic Movement Bangladesh, and District Truck Owners Association.

Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the EC on 30 July preliminarily proposed reducing Bagerhat's constituencies from four to three. Various political parties rejected the proposal and launched protests, forming an all-party coordinated committee that organised hartals, blockades, and other programmes. They also participated in the commission's hearing demanding retention of the four seats. However, the EC published the final gazette on 4 September, dividing Bagerhat into three constituencies instead of four, only altering the boundaries from the original proposal. The writ petitions were filed challenging this EC decision.