Legal notice seeks list of individuals pardoned by president since 1991
Secretaries of the home ministry, law ministry, Cabinet and President’s Office have been made respondents to the notice.
A Supreme Court lawyer has issued a legal notice, seeking a list of individuals pardoned by the president from January 1991 to July 2024.
Supreme Court Lawyer Barrister Md Omar Faruk today (25 August) sent the legal notice to secretaries of the home ministry, law ministry, cabinet and the president's office.
The notice says under Section 49 of the constitution, the previous and current presidents have pardoned or lessened the penalties of many death row convicts and criminals in life-imprisonment.
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"These people have returned to the world of crime and spread fear in the society upon coming out of prisons. We as citizens have the right to know on whose directives the former and current presidents have taken these decisions. Also, we need to find out if Section 49 of the constitution has been misused," the notice says.
Questioning the president's power of pardoning top criminals, the notice added that the list of the persons pardoned by the president from 1991 to 2024 has to be provided to the recipient within 15 days.
"The recipient will be forced to file a writ with higher courts if the list isn't provided in due time," the notice says.
