Corruption
alleged against Minister
A parliamentary standing committee has brought allegation of corruption
in import and distribution of CNG autorickshaws against Communications
Minister Barrister Nazmul Huda. Members of the parliamentary standing
committee on communications ministry told that a CNG autorickshaw sold
at up to Tk 3.67 lakh, up from the actual price at Tk 1.67 lakh as a
result of monopoly by Uttara Motors. The parliamentary body accused
the communications ministry of favouring Uttara Motors, allowing it
to have monopoly on the business, as the company is the sole importer
of CNG autorickshaws. The committee formed a three-member sub-committee
to probe the allegations and asked it to submit its report in 30 days.
The committee also discussed the activities of Bangladesh Road Transport
Authority and asked it to introduce modern equipment to collect licence
fees and expressed dissatisfaction at its performance.-Prothom Alo,
8 January.
New
Justice in Appellate Division
Justice MA Aziz has been appointed as judge of the Appellate Division
of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice KM Hasan administered the oath at
a ceremony at the Judge's lounge, attended by judges of the Supreme
Court. Traditionally, the Supreme Court Bar Association felicitates
the newly appointed judges but its members did not attend the ceremony
in protest at the appointment superseding his seniors. Justice Aziz
has been appointed by superseding Justice Syed Amirul Islam. Earlier,
Justice Amirul was also superseded on two occasions. -Law Desk
Law
on use of compressed block bricks afoot
The government is planning a law to make use of compressed block bricks
mandatory in construction of buildings and walls both by the government
and the private sector in the next two months.Environment minister Shajahan
Siraj saidi that the ministry is gooing to make the law to discourage
use of traditional bricks, as they contribute to environmental pollution.
The law will be enacted in one or two months.The minister said there
are four factories which make compressed block bricks in the capital
and the government will take an initiative to set up more such factories
across the country in government and private hands. The minister told
that construction of roads will not fall under the purview of the law,
as the country does not have adequate amount of stones. -New Age,
8 January.
IGP's
apology petition rejected
The High Court has rejected the petition of the inspector general of
police (IGP) offering apology for his 'insolent and contemptuous' remarks
about a judge and decided to hear the case on its merit. A division
bench of Justice M A Matin and Justice Syed Refat Ahmed appointed Mahmudul
Islam, a former attorney general, as amicus curiae to assist the court
and adjourned the hearing until January 20. The court asked him to come
up with a fresh application. The court had issued contempt rule upon
the IGP for his written remarks while replying to certain queries in
connection with a contempt case against five police sergeants for not
showing due respect to a sitting judge at Farmgate as he was on his
way to court in a flag car. The court exempted the IGP from his personal
appearance during the next hearing. - Daily Star, 7 January.
Special
tribunal for land dispute on the cards
The government is set to introduce special tribunals for disposal of
land-dispute settlement, in line with a recommendation from the cabinet
committee concerned. The cabinet Committee on land reforms has proposed
enactment of a new law for trial of civil and criminal cases under the
same courts, competent sources said. A permanent law cell at the land
ministry has also been recommended to address the complicated cases.
Within the broader framework of the recommendations, the cabinet committee
has proposed amendment to six existing laws. The laws are the Registration
Act 1908, the Transfer of Property Act 1882, the Specific Relief Act
2003, the Limitation Act 1908, the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act
1950, and Land Reform Ordinance 1984. As part of the reforms, completion
of registration within two months of preparing documents of land purchase
and sales would be made mandatory. The cabinet committee is also planning
recommendation for a separate land cadre in recruitment process under
the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). -New Age, 8 January.
Law
to enhance efficiency of civil procedure
A new civil law titled 'Court Reform Implementation (supplementary rules)
Act 2004' is being formulated to enhance the efficiency of civil procedure
management. The draft of the proposed law would be placed before the
next meeting of the cabinet for its approval. This was stated by Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed. Once the cabinet
approves, the draft would be tabled at the house in the upcoming session
of the Jatiya Sangsad. In this context, the law minister said the government
has taken up a pilot project to reduce the harassment of the justice-seekers,
and quicken the settlement of trial in Dhaka, Gazipur, Khulna, Comilla,
and Rangpur districts. The minister said the proposed law would be promulgated
on experimental basis for two years. He added if the new law is proved
helpful for implementing the pilot project, it would be extended to
other districts gradually. -Prothom Alo, 5 January.
Harsher law to fight land grabs proposed
The secretary committee on recovery of occupied land has recommended
major changes to the existing law to make it tougher to stem the tide
of land grabbing. The committee observed that although the law had provisions
to punish illegal encroachers, it lacked proper guidelines and bite
to resist encroachment and recover grabbed lands. The secretary committee
saw articles 427, 447, 448 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) that
deal with punishment to land encroachers outdated and called for making
the articles tougher. The body proposed to rename the law as the Government,
Local Authority and Private Lands and Buildings (Recovery of Possession)
Ordinance and an increase in jail terms to five years from two years
and fines from Tk 1,000 to Tk 50,000 for land and building grabs by
individuals. In case of land or building grabs in an orchestrated way
by organised gangs, the committee recommended jail terms from five to
14 years along with a fine of Tk 10 lakh. It also recommended for introduction
of non-bailable and non-settleable clauses to Section 7(1) of the ordinance.
The body suggested amendments to Section 9 (1) of the ordinance, giving
trial courts the powers to fix and realise compensations from the offenders
and give them to the affected people. -Daily Star, 4 January.
