Political parties agreed on amending presidential clemency, decentralising judiciary: Ali Riaz
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Political parties have agreed on the provision related to the presidential clemency, citing instances of widespread misuse of power, Prof Ali Riaz, Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission, said after Thursday's meeting.
There has been widespread misuse of the power of the president to grant pardons. Political parties have realised the need to amend Article 49 of the Constitution, he added.
Consensus was also made on the decentralisation of the judiciary by having provision for setting up high courts in divisional cities, he mentioned.
Prof Riaz made the remarks while briefing journalists at the end of the 9th day of the second phase of the discussions of political parties with the National Consensus Commission at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
The vice-chairman of the commission said that the consensus reached on the amendment to Article 49 of the Constitution is that-- the President shall have the power to grant pardon, deferral and respite of any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or any other authority and to remit, suspend or reduce any sentence and that power shall be exercised in accordance with the criteria, principles and procedures prescribed by law.
He expressed hope that the political consensus that has been created in light of the proposal made by the Consensus Commission on the amendment of Article 49 of the Constitution will be implemented in the future through its inclusion in the Constitution.
The misuse of this power that has been going on for so long will stop, he added.
Referring to the progress made in the matter of decentralization of the judiciary, Prof Riaz said that the permanent seat of the Supreme Court will be in the capital, but instead of the circuit bench that the Chief Justice could establish from time to time with the approval of the President, the permanent seat of the Supreme Court will be in the capital and there will be one or more permanent benches in each division by the Chief Justice.
That is, there has been a consensus on the establishment of permanent benches of the High Court at the divisional level. He said that Article 100 of the Constitution will be clearly changed in this regard.
BNP also shared similar concerns that the president's clemency was misused in the past, including acquitting death-convicted individuals on political considerations.
So, BNP agreed on amending the existing law so that the special power of the president couldn’t be misused, BNP standing committee member Salauddin Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.
He said that his party suggested decentralising the judiciary, having a direction, not an option to set up high courts in cities.
Representatives of 30 political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), participated in the discussion.
The commission has set July 7 as the date for further discussion.
So far, discussions have been settled on Article 70 of the Constitution, the chairmanship of parliamentary standing committees, the delimitation of constituencies, the provision related to presidential clemency, and the decentralisation of the judiciary.