Two separate committees formed to withdraw politically motivated cases

The government has formed two separate committees at the ministry and district level aimed at withdrawing politically motivated cases filed for harassment, asking all concerned to submit applications with FIRs and charge sheets if required by December 31, 2024.

A gazette notification was issued today signed by Senior Secretary of the Public Security Division of the Home Ministry D. Mohammad Abdul Momen.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser will head the six-member ministry-level committee while the district magistrate will lead the four-member district-level committee.

Members of the ministry level committee are the home ministry’s public security division senior secretary, additional secretary (law and order) and joint secretary (law), representative from law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry (not below the rank of joint secretary).

Deputy secretary/senior secretary, assistant secretary, Law-1, public security division has been entrusted with the charge of member secretary of the committee.

Members of the district level committees are police supers (a deputy commissioner for metropolitan areas), public prosecutors (metropolitan magistrate for the cases of the metropolitan areas) and additional district magistrate (member secretary).

The ministry level meeting will prepare a list of the cases appropriate for withdrawal after reviewing the recommendations sent from the district level committees and start the process for withdrawal of the cases.

Apart from this, the committee will also prepare another list of the politically motivated cases filed under The Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 as these cases cannot be withdrawn sans the commission’s written orders as per section 10 (4) of The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958. The government will later decide the next course of action to this end.

In accordance with the gazette notification, all have been asked to file petitions with the district magistrate concerned within December 31, 2024, to withdraw the political harassment cases along with certified copies of the FIRs (first information reports) and charge sheets if required.

The district magistrates will send the petitions to district public prosecutors (in cases metropolitan public prosecutors) within seven working days of receiving the applications while the public prosecutors will return the petitions with their opinions to the district magistrates within 15 working days.

Then, the district magistrates will place the petitions with the opinion of the public prosecutors at the district committee meeting within seven working days.

The district committees will suggest the government withdraw the cases if they consider those cases to be politically motivated or filed for other purposes mainly for harassment.

The district committees will finally send the recommendations, FIRs, charge sheets in a specific chart, within 45 days.