Staff Reporter:
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul yesterday said new rules have been in-corporated in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to stop filing of fake cases and harassment of in-nocents in these.
“An amendment brought to the CrPC was presented at the meeting of the advisory council yesterday. We ourselves are very embarrassed about some things during our government’s tenure, and we try to address these issues. One such issue is filing of fake cases, and another one is making financial gain by implicat-ing innocent people in these fake cases. To get rid of these issues, we have brought a major amendment to a provision of the CrPC,” he said.
The adviser said these while addressing a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy in the capital after the advisory council meeting. Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was present at the briefing, among others.
“When a murder case is filed in line with the CrPC, it takes three to four years to investigate, there are hundreds of accused, in some cases, even illegal exchange of money takes place. To get rid of this, this new provision -173(a) – in the CrPC has been added. It says that the Commissioner of Police, SP or any police officer of the rank of SP of a district, can direct the investigation officer to submit a preliminary probe report to the magistrate regarding any case under his jurisdiction if he considers it logical. The magistrate under his consideration can exempt the innocent and against whom there is no evidence of the crime, from the case at the pre-trial stage,” Dr Asif Nazrul added.
The law adviser hoped that if the provision is implemented, the police and the court administration will be able to work together and take action against the illegal exchange of money over arrest and prosecu-tion in such cases. He said the gazette notification will be issued in this connection, today.
“We have made another progress yesterday. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk had visited our country and the agency wanted to open a mission here in Bangladesh. We had a discussion in this connection and significant progress was made. Yesterday, a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) on this issue has been approved in principle in the advisory council meeting,” he added.
Dr Asif Nazrul further said the final draft in this connection will be sent to Volker Trk after more dis-cussion and it will be penned within the quickest possible time after his consent. The mission will be established for three years initially after penning of the MoU, he added.
Speaking about the rape of a woman in Muradnagar, Cumilla, and the law adviser said they are shocked and outraged, like any ordinary citizen of Bangladesh, by the heinous incident.
“Our Home Ministry has taken immediate action on the matter. The main accused, as well as those who committed the highly irresponsible and criminal act of spreading those pictures or videos on social me-dia, have been arrested. You have seen the proof during the Magura rape case that we have brought timely amendments to the concerned law. We are determined to give the utmost importance to this inci-dent as well and try it as soon as possible,” he stated.
