The High Court on Sunday directed the government to form a committee to investigate the arrest of nine individuals alleged to be children in violation of the Children Act, 2013 following the political violence in Gopalganj on July 16, which left five people killed.
At least 10 cases were filed over the violence, accusing hundreds of unnamed individuals.
The clashes erupted after an attack on a National Citizens Party motorcade allegedly by activists of the Awami League and its affiliated bodies.
The incident led to confrontations between groups of people and law enforcement agencies.
The bench of Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque and Justice Aynun Nahar Siddiqua issued the directive while hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Utpol Biswas and Abeda Gulrukh in public interest challenging the legality of the arrest of minors and send them to jails.
The next hearing is scheduled for November 5.
The court questioned why the authorities had failed to follow the children act and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in arresting the nine children.
It asked the government to explain within four weeks why this failure should not be declared illegal.
The order was based on a newspaper report published on July 20, which stated that 277 people were arrested, including nine children who were later set to the Juvenile Development Centre in Jashore from the jail.
The High Court in the rule asked several top officials to respond to the directive, including secretaries of the ministries of home, law, and women and children affairs, the inspector general of police, and the heads of local police, the jail in Gopalganj, and the juvenile development center in Jashore.
The court gave them three months to submit the investigation report.
Petitioner Abeda Gulrukh told 抖阴精品 on Sunday that the probe body would investigate if the Children Act and the Supreme Court directives were complied with regarding the arrest of the children and their transfer to the detention centre.聽聽
She said that there was no update and whereabouts of the detained children.
According to the Children Act, 2013, the officer-in-charge of a police station has the authority to release a child or hand them over to probation officers without sending them to court for petty offences.
The law emphasises rehabilitation over punishment for minors.
Juvenile courts are empowered to take action against police and probation officers if they fail to follow the law.
They can also direct senior police officials and the Department of Social Services to take disciplinary steps against the negligent officers.
The law clearly states that it is not the police鈥檚 duty to jail a child or ensure sentencing. Instead, their role is to protect the child鈥檚 rights.
While an adult may face life imprisonment or death penalty for murder, the maximum sentence for a child under the same charge is 10 years.
The law also requires that each police station must have a child affairs desk.
When a child is arrested, police must inform a probation officer immediately. Female officers must handle the cases involving female minors.
Earlier the Supreme Court issued several directives to ensure a child-friendly environment in juvenile courts, in line with the Children Act, 2013.
The most recent directive was issued on February 22, 2017.
It followed a report from the Supreme Court鈥檚 Special Committee for Child Rights, which found that many juvenile courts still had not implemented the measures for child offenders in violation of the children act.
The court instructed that trials of accused children must be held in simple courtrooms 鈥攚ithout docks, witness boxes, or red cloth traditionally used to separate judges鈥� seats.
Until dedicated child-friendly courtrooms are established, judges have been told to hold hearings in their chambers or cover the docks, witness boxes, and red cloth with curtains during the proceedings.
The apex court also ordered juvenile courts to strictly follow all the provisions of the children act.
According to the law, judges and lawyers must not wear gowns during the proceedings involving children.
Police officers and court officials are also barred from wearing uniforms in such trials in order to maintain a less intimidating environment for minors.
