The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule asking the government to explain why article 125(a) of the constitution, which bars courts from hearing cases on the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, should not be declared unconstitutional.
The court also questioned the legality of section 7 of the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 2021, which similarly protects the Election Commission鈥檚 actions on boundary changes from judicial review.
The vacation bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Biswajit Debnath issued the rule following a writ petition filed by 21 individuals, including voters and BNP-affiliated political figures from Faridpur鈥檚 Sadarpur and Charbhadrasan upazilas.
The petitioners challenged the Election Commission鈥檚 recent decision to transfer Algi and Hamirdi unions of Bhanga Upazila from the Faridpur-4 constituency to the Faridpur-2 constituency, which marked chaos and violent protests in Bhanga.
They also demanded restoration of the previous boundaries of Faridpur-4 (Sadarpur and Charbhadrasan) and Faridpur-5 (Bhanga) constituencies.
The High Court gave the government four weeks to respond to the rule and to explain why the redrawing of these boundaries should not be declared illegal.
The petitioners include Zahirul Haque Shahjada Mia, adviser to the BNP chairperson and former Faridpur BNP president, Md Shah Alam Reza, president of the Zia Shishu-Kishore Sangathan, lawyer Barrister M Fahad Khan, businessman M.M. Shahidul Islam Shahin, and several local BNP leaders and voters.
Their lawyer, Humayun Kabir Pollob, told 抖阴精品 that the High Court questioned not just the boundary changes but the broader constitutional and legal bar that prevents courts from reviewing such decisions.
He argued that the Election Commission had violated legal provisions in 2008 by merging Faridpur-4 and Faridpur-5 into a single constituency covering three upazilas.
When the petitioners later demanded the restoration of the two original constituencies, the EC allegedly made further unlawful changes by shifting two unions to Faridpur-2, violating section 6 of the Delimitation of Constituencies Act.
