Formation of committee regarding withdrawal of harassment cases filed for political reasons
September 22, 20242 Mins Read
Ministry
Jumbangla Desk: The government has formed two committees at the district and ministry levels to recommend withdrawal of harassment cases filed against political leaders and workers and innocent people due to political revenge and other reasons .

Senior Secretary of the Public Security Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to a circular signed by Mohammad Abdul Momen, two committees were formed today.

The district level committee is chaired by the District Magistrate, the members are the Superintendent of Police (a Deputy Commissioner of Police for the metropolitan area) and the Public Prosecutor (the Metropolitan Public Prosecutor for cases in the metropolitan area) and the Member-Secretary is the Additional District Magistrate.

It is said about the working scope and procedure of district level committee-

1. To withdraw the political harassment case, the application must be submitted to the District Magistrate of the concerned district by December 31, 2024. 

2. Affidavit and certified copy of charge sheet where applicable should be submitted along with the application.

3. Within 7 working days of receipt of the application, the District Magistrate shall forward the application to the District Public Prosecutor (in particular the Metropolitan Public Prosecutor) for opinion.

4. The Public Prosecutor (in particular the Metropolitan Public Prosecutor) shall forward his opinion to the District Magistrate within 15 working days of receipt of the application.

5. The District Magistrate will present the application to the District Committee meeting within 7 working days after collecting the opinion of the Public Prosecutor.

6. If it appears to the district committee that the case has been filed for harassment for political or other purposes, the committee will recommend to the government to withdraw the case.

7. The District Magistrate will send the said recommendation, statement of case, charge sheet along with the information to the Ministry of Home Affairs within 45 working days of receiving the application as per the specified "table".

The Chairman of the Ministry Level Committee is the Advisor to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the members are the Senior Secretary of the Public Security Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Additional Secretary (Law and Order) and the Joint Secretary (Law) and the representative of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (not below the level of Joint-Secretary). . Committee Member-Secretary Deputy Secretary / Senior Assistant Secretary / Assistant Secretary, Law-1 Branch, Public Security Department, Ministry of Home Affairs.

It is said about the working scope and procedure of the committee at the ministry level-

1. After receiving the recommendations from the District Committee, the Ministry level committee will scrutinize the recommendations and prepare the list by identifying the withdrawable cases and take action to withdraw the cases.

2. Among the cases under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, political harassment cases cannot be withdrawn without the written order of the Commission as per the provisions of Section 10 (4) of The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958. For this reason, such cases should be identified and made a list. What to do about such cases will be determined later.