Already sure of the majority in his favour, CEC MA Aziz yesterday joined the office after an absence of 11 consecutive days. At a meeting of the EC in the afternoon, he severely criticised the HC directives for revising the existing voter list and questioned the court's jurisdiction, meeting sources said.

Held after a break of more than five months, the meeting witnessed a brief and heated debate between the CEC and election commissioners M Munsef Ali and AK Mohammad Ali. The commissioners strongly opposed the proposal for filing the appeal and demanded discussion on the ongoing work of the voter list, added the sources.

But with the newly appointed election commissioners Justice Mahfuzur Rahman and SM Zakaria siding with the CEC, the meeting decided to file the appeal against the HC directives.

By taking the decision to file the appeal yesterday, the CEC in fact showed his absolute sway over the commission and sought to justify the ongoing task of preparing the fresh voter list, also preferred by the government, said sources at the EC Secretariat.

Although the HC in its January 4 ruling asked the commission to hold an immediate meeting, it was not convened before the CEC had two more election commissioners appointed by the government to win him the majority.

MA Aziz remained absent from January 8 to January 18, the time the government took to give the new appointments.

After about two and a half hours of meeting, he left his office hurriedly without making any comment to the waiting journalists.

New Election Commissioner Mahfuz, who on the first day in office on January 17 termed the HC directives contradictory and unlawful, also did not talk to the press, while SM Zakaria said he was not authorised to talk.

According to a statement on the decision taken by the EC meeting: "Chief Election Commissioner Justice MA Aziz, Election Commissioners Justice Mahfuzur Rahman and SM Zakaria opined in favour of filing an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to challenge the legal validity and constitutionality of the judgement."

Read out by acting Secretary to the EC Secretariat Mohammad Zakoria, the statement said election commissioners Mohammad Ali and Munsef Ali expressed their unwillingness to be party of the appeal.

"They [Munsef and Mohammad] however said they have no objection if anyone files an appeal against the High Court's judgement."

The decision of the meeting will be communicated to the counsel of the EC and he will take necessary steps soon to this end.

Election Commissioner Mohammad Ali said the CEC and the two new election commissioners decided on their own to file the appeal. "It's not a decision of the Election Commission," he argued. They were not even informed when the CEC and the secretary to the EC Secretariat contested the two writ petitions challenging the preparation of a fresh roll, he said.

"We are not aggrieved by the High Court's judgement. We don't want to file the appeal against it," he added.

VOTER LISTING AT STANDSTILL?
The EC meeting yesterday did not discuss the continuing work of the fresh voter list although it was on the meeting agenda.

Munsef and Mohammad at the meeting demanded discussion on the issue, but the CEC did not allow it, alleged the two election commissioners.

"The chief election commissioner stopped us asking for the discussion," Munsef Ali told reporters after the meeting.

Election Commissioner SM Zakaria however informed the meeting that the voter-listing process has been at a standstill since the HC's judgement, Mohammad Ali told reporters.

He said he asked for an executive order to stop the work as an appeal is going to be filed.

But the CEC said the voter listing need not be stopped, as the court did not give any such order.

The acting secretary of the EC Secretariat who was designated to brief the press left the conference room without answering the journalists' queries on the status of the ongoing enumeration.