Government has withdrawn more than 24,000 political cases

Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman has said the government has so far withdrawn 24,013 political cases that were used as tools of harassment.

He disclosed this information in reply to a question from Member of Parliament Keramat Ali in the National Parliament on Tuesday (November 10).

Member of Parliament Keramat Ali had wanted to know about the progress of withdrawing the cases filed during the tenure of the currently banned Awami League government. In reply the Law Minister said the process of withdrawing political cases began during the tenure of the interim government. The present government has further strengthened that process.

The Law Minister said if it is proved that any case was filed with political motives or with the intention of harassing any person, the government will take necessary measures on the basis of the application for withdrawal and the recommendation of the concerned district committee.

To make the process orderly a four-member district-level committee under the leadership of the District Magistrate was formed on March 5. The committee reviews the application for withdrawal of the case, the complaint, the certified copy of the charge sheet in applicable cases and the opinion of the government lawyers. After that it gives recommendations after verifying whether the case was filed with the intention of political harassment, whether continuing the trial is necessary in the public interest and whether there is a risk of state interest being harmed if the case continues.

Asaduzzaman said a six-member central committee under his leadership was formed on March 8 to review the recommendations of the district committees and coordinate the case withdrawal process across the country.

Murder cases will also be withdrawn if they are political
In reply to a supplementary question from BNP Member of Parliament Zainul Abedin Faruk the Law Minister said, “Except only rape cases, any other type of case, even if it is a murder case, if it is a political case and comes through our screening, those will be withdrawn. There is no scope for ifs and buts here.”

Asaduzzaman said, “When a case is filed, none of them has ‘political case’ written on it. For this reason we have told every affected political leader and activist that if those against whom cases are pending submit applications for withdrawal of the cases in the prescribed form, we will withdraw them through due process.”

He further said former prime minister Khaleda Zia and current Prime Minister Tarique Rahman never applied for the withdrawal of their cases. Rather their cases were disposed of through the court without seeking any special consideration.