Parties agree on amending presidential clemency, decentralising judiciary

Political parties have agreed on the provision related to amending presidential clemency, citing instances of widespread misuse of power, Prof Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the National Consensus Commission (NCC), said after Thursday's meeting.

There has been widespread misuse of power of the president to grant pardons. That is why political parties have realised the need to amend Article 49 of the constitution, he said.

A consensus was also made on the decentralisation of the judiciary by having a provision of setting up High Court benches at the divisional level, he also said.

Prof Riaz said these while briefing journalists at the end of the ninth day of the second phase of discussions between political parties and the NCC at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

He said the consensus reached on amending Article 49 of the constitution is that the president shall have the power to grant pardons, 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 the law.

The NCC vice-chairman expressed hope that the political consensus made in light of the commission's proposal for amending Article 49 would be implemented in the future through its inclusion in the constitution.

The misuse of this power that has been going on for so long would stop, he added.

Referring to the progress made in the decentralisation of the judiciary, Prof Riaz said the permanent seat of the Supreme Court would be in the capital.

However, 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 would be in the capital and there would be one or more permanent benches in each division by the chief justice, he said.

That is, there was a consensus on the establishment of permanent benches of the High Court at the divisional level. Article 100 of the constitution would be amended in this regard, he further said.

The BNP also shared similar concerns that the president's clemency was misused in the past, including acquitting death row convicts on political considerations.

The party agreed on amending the existing law so that the special power of the president cannot be misused, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.

He said his party suggested decentralising the judiciary.

Representatives of 30 political parties, including BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), participated in the discussion.

The commission set July 7 as the next 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.

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