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Published : 10 Dec 2025, 01:24 PM
The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division has upheld the High Court ruling that declared the Election Commission’s gazette reducing the number of parliamentary seats in Bagerhat from four to three illegal.
The top court’s decision comes just ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming general election. As a result, the 13th parliamentary election will see Bagerhat vote for four parliamentary seats.
A five-member appellate bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed made its decision on Wednesday after hearing a leave to appeal petition against the High Court’s ruling.
After the hearing, Election Commission lawyer Kamal Hossain Meahzi said in response to media questions: "I will inform the Election Commission, the EC, about the verdict in writing. My response will be according to what they decide on the matter and the Election Commission's next instructions."
Highlighting the presentation of the inconsistency in constituency boundaries in court, Meahzi said that the seats have been re-determined based on the average population of the entire country. There are 14 districts with four parliamentary constituencies. Among them, Bagerhat has the lowest population. There are nine districts with five parliamentary constituencies. Among them, Gazipur has the highest population and voters.
“This time, the boundaries of 39 constituencies have been determined. Here, it was the only district from which a parliamentary constituency was cartelised and Gazipur was the only district where a constituency was added. In the case of other constituencies, the boundaries have been determined by placing one union or two unions or an Upazila from one parliamentary constituency into another.”
On Nov 10, the High Court had ruled that the EC’s decision to reduce the number of constituencies in Bagerhat was illegal.
The bench of Justice Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar and Justice Faysal Hasan Arif had directed that the previous four seats be reinstated.
Leading up to the 13th parliamentary election, the EC first proposed cutting Bagerhat's four seats to three on Jul 30. Several political parties rejected the proposal and held multiple programmes, including strikes and blockades. The commission also held a hearing on the demand to retain the four seats.
However, the EC remained firm in its decision. On Sept 4, the final gazette notification was issued, reducing Bagerhat to three seats instead of four.
According to that gazette, Bagerhat-1 comprised Bagerhat Sadar, Chitalmari, and Mollahat; Bagerhat-2 included Fakirhat, Rampal, and Mongla; and Bagerhat-3 consisted of Kachua, Morrelganj, and Sarankhola.
Previously, Bagerhat-1 consisted of Chitalmari, Mollahat, and Fakirhat; Bagerhat-2 of Bagerhat Sadar and Kachua; Bagerhat-3 of Rampal and Mongla; and Bagerhat-4 of Morrelganj and Sarankhola.
Challenging the EC's gazette, two separate writ petitions were filed earlier in the High Court, requesting the reinstatement of Bagerhat's four parliamentary seats.
The two petitions were filed by the Bagerhat Press Club, District Bar Association, District BNP, District Jamaat-e-Islami, District Islami Andolan Bangladesh and the District Truck Owners' Association.
The pleas named the government, the chief election commissioner, the EC secretary and the attorney general as respondents.
Following the initial hearing on Sept 16, the High Court issued a rule asking why directives should not be given to maintain four constituencies in Bagerhat and why the EC’s gazette reducing them to three should not be declared illegal.
The EC and other relevant parties were asked to respond.
The matter eventually went to the High Court, which ruled against the EC. The EC sought to challenge that ruling in an appeal with the Appellate Division. The nation’s top court scrapped that petition on Wednesday.
