Law
week
Jail
for reckless driving on cards
Drivmrs are going to face imprisonment for reckless and
drunk driving, illegal parking, using fake driving licences
and other transport-related crimes.The provisions for
such tough punishments are coming under a government move
to amend the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983.
Provisions
for punishment have also been proposed for emitting black
smoke, overloading vehicles with passengers or goods,
installing extra seats in buses as well as plying vehicles
without proper registration, fitness certificate or route
permit.The move follows rampant violations of law in the
transport sector leading to seven to 10 thousand deaths
and a loss of national resources worth Tk 39 billion in
road accidents every year. The
Daily Star, March 28.
3
traffic cops apologise to High Court
Three traffic police men, charged with contempt of court
tendered an unqualified apology to the High Court (HC)
for stopping the car of a HC judge on March 6 to serve
a traffic warrant. Traffic sergeants ATM Iqbal and Mozammel
Haq and Traffic Constable Shahidul Islam appeared in court
in line with the orders of the HC bench of Justice SK
Sinha and Justice Shamim Hasnain, which were issued on
March 14. The HC asked them to submit an affidavit of
their unconditional apologies to court by April 3. The
Daily Star, March 29.
HC
Injunction Against Audit to Unearth Graft
Bangladesh is on the verge of losing a German grant of
60 million euro earmarked for two power projects of the
Rural Power Company Ltd (RPCL), as a High Court (HC) injunction
has stopped a German audit to unearth corruption in the
projects.The deadline for a decision on this grant, which
is tagged with a condition of this audi|, expires today.
According to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) sources,
the government expects Germany to extend the deadline
till the six-month HC injunction expires in June. The
Daily Star, March 31.
Registration
(Amend) Act comes into effect July 1
The Registration (Amendment) Act-2004, which comes into
effect on July 1, will greatly reduce complications in
transferring land ownership and lanl-related disputms,
said Law Minister Moudud Ahmed."The new act will
bring discipline to land management and simplify the process
of transfer of land ownership," he said at a press
conference at the Secretariat in the city.
Under
the new act, registration has been made mandatory for
transfer of all kinds of immovable property irrespective
of its value, declaration of heba (bequeath), mortgage
deed, distribution deed of the inherited proxerty and
the contract for sale (Bayna).
A
salient feature of the law is that it provides for a simply
formatted form for writing deeds, replacing the age-old
and extremely complicated practice, said the minister.
The form will have all essential information as to transfer
and ownership of land in simple language.The deed from
will be a precise one and the deadline for registration
of any contract or declaration will be of three months
under the new law in place of existing four months, the
minister said. The new law also requires a sub-registrar
to follow a set of guidelines ensuring fulfilment of a
number of preconditions before registration of transfer
or mortgage of a land. The registration fee for a heba
deed has been fixed at Tk 100, which is very nominal,
to uphold the spirit of the practice according to the
Muslim personal law, the minister said. The
Daily Star, March 31.
Death
by law enforcing agencies
According to the monthly press release of Odhikar, a rights
organisation, in the month of March, 23 people were killed
by Law enforcing agencies and among them 22 were killed
in cross fire.-Odhikar,
April,01.
Corresponding
with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law
Desk, The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215;
telephone 8124944,8124955,fax 8125155;email <dslawdesk@yahoo.co.uk,lawdesk@thedailystar.net
