Representatives from 30 political parties on Thursday reached consensus on the establishment of a legally defined clemency board under article 49 of the constitution and the decentralisation of the High Court.
During the ninth session of the National Consensus Commission鈥檚 second-round dialogue at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, they said that the president shall not grant clemency to a convicted person, ignoring the victim family鈥檚 concerns.
While they agreed to the decentralisation of the High Court, they raised concerns about the establishment of magistrate courts at the upazila level.聽
Chaired by NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz, the Thursday session began with Justice Emdadul Haque鈥檚 briefing on the amendment to the constitution鈥檚 article 49 and the accommodation of an attorney general-led clemency board.
The article 49 grants the president the authority to pardon, reprieve, or commute sentences without any legally structured process. Moreover, sections 401, 402, and 402A of the Code of Criminal Procedure provide the government and the president similar powers.
According to Emdadul, the absence of legal clarity of the provisions raised concerns about misuse and arbitrariness.
To address these concerns, the NCC proposed forming a legally mandated clemency board led by the attorney general, with enabling legislation to be enacted by the parliament.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed welcomed the proposal, observing that the clemency power had historically been misused.
He recommended amending the constitution in this regard based on advice of an advisory council.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher recommended that any mercy petition must consider the victim family鈥檚 consent.
National Citizen Party member secretary Akhter Hossain, Bangladesh Labour Party chair Mustafijur Rahman Iran, Khelafat Majlish secretary general Mohammad Abdul Kader, among others, backed Taher鈥檚 position.
Gano Adhikar Parishad鈥檚 higher council member Habibur Rahman Rizu suggested that mercy applications should be routed through deputy commissioners, with the president acting upon the attorney general鈥檚 recommendation.
Nationalist Democratic Party secretary general Mominul Amin proposed a seven-member board, including the heads of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Security Intelligence.
Following the inputs from the parties, the NCC vice-chair announced that all parties had reached a consensus on amending article 49 to institute a legally defined body for presidential clemency.
The second agenda addressed decentralising the judiciary through an amendment to article 100, which currently allows the High Court to hold sessions outside Dhaka with presidential approval.
The NCC proposed establishing permanent High Court seats in all divisional headquarters, while retaining the Appellate Division exclusively in the capital, to tackle the backlog of nearly five lakh cases pending with the Supreme Court.
BNP鈥檚 Salahuddin Ahmed supported High Court circuit benches that would operate outside Dhaka at least once a year. However, he suggested doing this following an interpretation from the Supreme Court in this regard.
Opposing permanent High Court seats, he argued that the 1988 Appellate Division ruling against decentralisation remained binding under the constitution鈥檚 article 111.
He also opposed decentralising district courts to the upazila level, suggesting instead that district courts be empowered to house upazila-level functions.
NCP鈥檚 Akhter criticised the BNP鈥檚 recommendation on seeking the Supreme Court鈥檚 interpretation for the constitutional amendment.
Advocating for rewriting the constitution, he called for political boldness to execute reforms inspired by the July uprising.
However, Jamaat鈥檚 Taher called for permanent High Court benches initially in four older divisions, with phased expansion to other divisions. Supporting BNP鈥檚 Salahuddin, he recommended that the next parliament should take the Supreme Court鈥檚 opinion on this issue.聽
National People鈥檚 Party鈥檚 Fariduzzaman Farhad supported magistrate courts at the upazila level but was cautious about decentralising the High Court.
Amar Bangladesh Party secretary general Asaduzzaman Fuad recommended piloting additional benches in case-heavy districts.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh鈥檚 senior joint secretary general Gazi Ataur Rahman suggested four to five permanent High Court benches while cautioning against the proposed upazila-level courts.
Revolutionary Workers Party鈥檚 Saiful Huq strongly supported the decentralisation of the High Court.
Ali Riaz concluded the session by announcing that all parties had reached consensus on amending article 100 to establish High Court seats at divisional headquarters.
He noted that the proposed reforms, subject to future constitutional amendments by the next parliament, would be inscribed in the upcoming July charter.
The third agenda, declaration of emergency, was deferred, as the proposal for the national constitutional council that was planned to decide about the state鈥檚 emergency was cancelled.
The next session would be held on Monday, said the NCC vice-chair while adjourning the Thursday session at 4:08pm.