Women, Children Repression Cases

The High Court directed the Supreme Court registrar general to form a cell to monitor whether trials of cases under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000 are finished in 180 days.

The monitoring cell will report to the SC and the government for taking appropriate action against judges, public prosecutors and investigation officers who will fail to assign causes for not disposing of the cases on time, read the full text of the HC verdict released on Thursday.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice JBM Hassan delivered the short verdict on December 5 last year after hearing a suo moto rule on the issue.   

The rule was issued earlier during the hearing of a bail petition filed by Milad Hossain, an accused in a murder case filed under the act.

According to Section 20 of the law, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal must finish the trials of cases filed under this law within 180 days of charge-framing.

If the trial of a case is not finished on time, the tribunal judge, public prosecutor and police officer concerned have to submit separate reports to the SC and government, mentioning causes for the delay, and then the authorities concerned should take necessary steps, states the Section 31(ka) of the law.

“Therefore, the Registrar General of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh is directed to constitute a Monitoring Cell headed by him or the Registrar of the High Court Division along with the Secretary or his representative not below the rank of Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Law and Justice Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs," the HC judges said in the full verdict.

"The Monitoring Cell shall monitor this aspect and shall submit report from time to time to the concerned authorities of the responsible persons for taking appropriate action in accordance with section 31Ka (3) of the Act, 2000 with a copy thereof to the Monitoring Committee for the Subordinate Judiciary of the Supreme Court,” the verdict added.

The HC refused to grant bail to Millad Hossain as there was specific allegation against him and asked the trial court to finish his trial in one year after receiving its judgment.  

The law secretary and SC registrar general on December 5 last year submitted two reports to the HC saying that none of the lower court judges, public prosecutors and police officials concerned complied with the provision of women and children repression prevention law that asked them to assign reasons for not disposing of cases under the act in 180 days.

The law secretary and SC registrar general submitted the reports after the HC asked them to explain in 30 days whether there was any exercise of the section of the law and whether the SC and law ministry had taken any steps in this regard.

Milad Hossain's lawyer Cumar Debul Dey told The Daily Star that the case against him was filed with Rangunia Police Station in Chittagong on February 19, 2015 on charge of killing his wife.

The case was sent to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 of Chittagong for trial.

The tribunal framed charges in the case on March 21 last year but could not finish the trial on time, the lawyer said, adding that no witness of the case appeared before the court yet.

Source: thedailystar