HC questions legality of moving 2 Bhanga unions to another parliamentary seat

The High Court has issued a rule seeking an explanation from the Election Commission on why the decision to move two unions from Bhanga Upazila—Algi and Hamirdi—from the Faridpur-4 parliamentary constituency to Faridpur-2 should not be declared illegal.

The rule was issued on Tuesday by a bench comprising Justice Md. Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Biswajit Debnath following a preliminary hearing of a writ petition challenging the Election Commission’s recent delimitation notification. The Commission and other concerned parties have been asked to respond within ten days.

Earlier on September 9, a writ petition was filed demanding the restoration of the previous boundaries of Faridpur-4 (covering Charbhadrasan and Sadarpur upazilas) and Faridpur-5 (Bhanga Upazila) parliamentary seats.

The petitioners include Zahirul Haque Shahjada Mia, adviser to BNP Chairperson and former Faridpur BNP president; Md. Shah Alam Reza, central president of BNP-affiliated Zia Shishu-Kishore Sangathan; lawyer Barrister M. Fahad Khan; businessman M.M. Shahidul Islam Shahin; Shajahan Shikder, member of Charbhadrasan BNP’s convening committee; along with 16 voters from Sadarpur and Charbhadrasan.

Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab, representing the petitioners, said the Election Commission had previously issued a notification defining the boundaries for the 13th parliamentary election, which included Charbhadrasan, Sadarpur, and part of Bhanga Upazila within Faridpur-4. However, the notification separated Algi and Hamirdi unions from Bhanga and annexed them to the neighboring Faridpur-2 constituency. This change forms the basis of the legal challenge.

The petition also contests provisions of Section 7 of the Parliamentary Constituency Boundary Act 2021 and Article 125(a) of the Bangladesh Constitution.

Barrister Pallab further explained that in 2008, the Election Commission had violated relevant laws by merging two constituencies—Faridpur-4 and Faridpur-5—into a single seat comprising three upazilas. When petitioners later sought to restore the original two seats, the Commission rejected the request and, allegedly unlawfully, detached two unions from Bhanga Upazila and merged them into Faridpur-2. This move, the petition claims, breaches Section 6 of the 2021 Delimitation Act.

Given legal restrictions on challenging Election Commission decisions under election law, the petitioners have invoked constitutional and delimitation law provisions in the writ petition.