The High Court has ordered the Bangladesh Police to not lodge cases or make arrests under Section 16 (2) of the Special Powers Act.
It has also instructed the country’s top law-enforcer to initiate measures so that people are not harassed.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman gave the order on Monday while hearing bail petitions in several cases filed under this legal provision.
“Section 16 (2) has been scrapped, so it doesn’t exist anymore. So any cases filed under it, is illegal,” said Assistant Attorney General Yusuf Mahmud Morshed, who represented the state in the hearing.
After HM Ershad stepped down in 1990, the interim administration of Justice Shahabuddin Ahmad scrapped Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Special Powers Act, 1974 through an ordinance. After the BNP came in power following the 1991 elections, the amended Act was passed in parliament.
During the emergency rule in 2007, the army-installed caretaker administration revived Section 16 through an ordinance.
After the Awami League took office, the ordinance was tabled in parliament, but was not passed.