HC issues rule on mandatory registration of domestic workers

The High Court today (19 April) issued a rule asking why the authorities' inaction in implementing a mandatory registration and regulatory system for domestic workers under the Domestic Servants Registration Ordinance, 1961 should not be declared illegal.

The bench of Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued the rule following a preliminary hearing on a writ petition.

The court also sought an explanation as to why directives should not be given to enforce such a system in line with the recommendations outlined in the writ petition.

The court asked the Law, labour and employment, home secretaries and director general of the Department of Labour to respond to the rule within four weeks.

Advocate Tanzim Al Islam appeared for the writ petition alongside Advocate Khadijatul Kobra and Advocate Rowshan Ara.

Tanzim Al Islam told The Business Standard that there is a provision in a law to grant legal recognition to domestic workers.

He added that the law provides for their registration with the relevant police station, but no official system for registering domestic workers is currently in place.

He further said that without a registration system, it is often difficult to trace domestic workers if they commit crimes and flee, whereas proper registration would make tracking them much easier.

He added that in recent incidents in areas such as Uttara and Mohammadpur, domestic workers have been found involved in various crimes, and these issues have been highlighted in the writ petition.

Earlier, on 13 January, Advocate Khadijatul Kobra filed the writ with the High Court seeking directives to ensure registration of all domestic workers across the country including in the capital, reports UNB.

Speaking to reporters, she said a widely reported murder incident on 5 December last year in Mohammadpur, where a mother and her daughter were killed, prompted the legal move.

The accused in the case was a domestic worker employed at the residence.

She said a legal notice has been served to the authorities attaching media reports of the incident and requesting implementation of the mandatory registration system under the 1961 ordinance.

As no action was taken, the writ petition was filed on 31 January.

According to the ordinance, mandatory registration of domestic workers currently applies to certain police station in Dhaka including Kotwali, Sutrapur, Lalbagh, Ramna and Tejgaon.

The law also allows the government to extend the provision to other areas through official gazette notification, she said.