No ‘harassment cases’ that include murder allegations against journalists and other professionals, including judges and intellectuals, have been withdrawn yet despite repeated assurances from the government of rescinding such cases though many have been implicated in ‘false cases’ filed over the July-August massacres.
Home ministry officials concerned have confirmed that the police had not filed any interim investigation reports dropping names of suspects on the ground of insufficient evidence of committing the specified crimes during the student-led mass uprising that ousted the authoritarian regime of the Awami League on August 5, 2024.
‘We haven’t received any report on dropping names of suspects under the CrPC’s Section 173A although the police have been reminded of the recent amendment to the British-era law, aimed at stopping harassment of anyone innocent in the pre-trial stage,’ a senior home ministry official said on Monday .
The official, however, said that they were receiving some complaints that the murder accused in the cases had been even staying outside the country during the alleged crimes committed during July-August, 2024.
‘We have amended the CrPc’s Section 173A so that the investigation officer can drop the names of suspects in case sufficient evidence is not found against the accused. We want that anyone innocent is not harassed at any level,’ law adviser Asif Nazrul told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· at his office at the secretariat on Sunday.
It is now the home ministry’s responsibility to look into the amendment’s operative part, he added
Asked about murder cases filed against journalists and other professionals who apparently did not have any involvement in such crimes, he said that the government had nothing to do with the filing of the cases by aggrieved people.
‘The aggrieved people have filed the cases. The incidents of crimes are genuine here. These are not like those fictitious cases filed during the fascist Awami League regime,’ said Asif, also a law professor, adding that the government would of course ensure that anyone innocent would not face any injustice or harassment at any stage.
The interim government in July amended the Section 173A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 allowing the investigation officer to submit an interim investigation report to the magistrate dropping names of suspects in case of insufficient evidence against the allegations made in the First Information Report.Â
Later, a high-level committee, led by the law adviser, was formed to review the overall progress in this regard and make necessary recommendations beside the two separate committees — one led by the deputy commissioner in a district and the other by the police commissioner in a metropolitan city —were formed for the proper submission of interim investigation reports, according to a home ministry order issued on October 13.Â
The order signed by assistant secretary Md Mofizul Islam asked for expediting the activities relating to the submission of interim reports in the criminal cases and submit reports without further delay.
The home ministry in another letter issued on October 6 informed the inspector general of police and all district magistrates, who function as deputy commissioners in each district, that it did not receive any report on activities related to the submission of the interim probe reports in case of the harassment cases filed over crimes during the July-August period in 2024.
All concerned were asked to send progress reports in seven days as all were earlier instructed to send fortnightly reports on the basis of the interim investigation activities.Â
The law adviser-led committee is yet to hold any meeting as the home ministry is yet to receive any reports on dropping names of the accused falsely framed in July cases, according to the home ministry officials.
The law adviser on several occasions admitted that false cases were filed and assured that no one innocent would be harassed.
‘We ourselves are very embarrassed about some things during our government’s tenure, and we are trying to address these issues. One such issue is the filing of false cases, and another one is making financial gains by implicating innocent people in these false cases,’ Asif Nazrul said on June 29 while briefing reporters on the amendments to the CrPC.
‘We have brought a major amendment to a provision of the 1898 CrPC to get rid of these problems,’ he said.
When a murder case is filed following CrPC provisions, it sometimes takes three to four years to investigate, he said, adding that there were hundreds of accused in some cases and the names of accused were put in the cases even for illegal exchange of money.
The provision states that the police commissioner, the superintendent of police, or any police officer of the rank of SP in 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.
And, the magistrate can exempt innocent people from the case at the pre-trial stage as per the amended law.
The government move came amid allegations of filing a huge number of false and motivated cases by some people since the fall of the regime of Sheikh Hasina.Â
Home adviser retired Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury recently said that he had directed authorities concerned to ensure that no innocent person was harassed in connection with false cases linked to the 2024 July uprising.
‘We are working to ensure that no innocent individual is harassed in false cases,’ he told reporters following a views exchange meeting with local administration officials at the Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner’s office on September 21.
He assured that steps were under way to withdraw false cases as quickly as possible, adding that a new committee had been formed to identify and review such cases.
Over 2,500 cases were filed over the incidents of murders and attacks during the mass uprising till mid-November, police headquarters officials said.
They also said that about 8,000 people were arrested in mass uprising cases till October 31 last year while thousands of people were accused.
More than 250 journalists mostly in Dhaka beside other professionals, including judges, cultural activists and artistes have also been named in murder cases.
The flaws in cases include naming people who have died or are living out of the country, showing people alive as killed during the uprising and many more inconsistencies, said law enforcement officials dealing with the cases.
In some cases, the plaintiffs do not know the people named in the cases and allegations have it that some students and political people have prepared the complaints to frame their opponents.
The ACC cases related to financial scams and corruption or the complaints filed with the International Crimes Tribunal after the July uprising would, however, not come under the jurisdiction of these committees for withdrawal, according to officials concerned.Â
Many have said that the filing of flawed and wholesale cases over murders of and attacks on protesters during the student-people uprising is likely to hinder justice and pave the way for perpetrators to escape punishment.