The Election Commission (EC) has reinstated the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party alongside its electoral symbol, the "weighing scales", in light of a Supreme Court order, reports bdnews24.com.
On Tuesday, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said an official gazette has been issued to that effect.
"The registration and symbol of Jamaat-e-Islami have been reinstated through a notification," he said.
The decision allows Jamaat to once again throw its hat in the electoral race. The party had lost its registration in 2013 when the High Court revoked it on grounds of its charter being incompatible with the Constitution.
In December 2016, the Supreme Court decided that the weighing scales symbol would be reserved exclusively for the judiciary as a symbol of justice. This led the EC to drop the symbol from the official list through a gazette issued in March 2017.
Tuesday's move comes after the Appellate Division overturned the 2013 High Court verdict on Jun 1.
The top court left it to the EC, as a constitutional body, to take action regarding the party's registration and electoral symbol.
The EC subsequently held a meeting on Jun 4, just before Eid-ul-Azha, and decided in principle to reinstate Jamaat's registration and its symbol.
At the time, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said the decision had been made, though completing the formal process would take some time.
Jamaat now becomes one of 50 registered political parties in Bangladesh. The EC says at least 147 other organisations have applied for registration.
A Jamaat delegation will visit the EC to collect the official registration certificate, now that the party has regained its legal status along with its polls logo.
The "weighing scales" are not included in the EC's reserved list of symbols at the moment.
