Govt amends criminal procedure to prevent harassment in false cases: Asif Nazrul

To prevent harassment in false and fabricated cases, the government has amended Section 173A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, allowing magistrates to discharge accused persons if preliminary investigation finds no evidence or witnesses against them.

Law Adviser Asif Nazrul made the announcement during a press briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy today (29 June).

He said the amendment aims to prevent the abuse of the legal process and protect innocent individuals from being dragged into baseless cases.

"If an accused is found to have no credible link to the offence during initial investigation, the magistrate will have the authority to drop them from the case. However, if their involvement is found later during the full investigation, they can be added back to the case," he said.

Asif Nazrul also said the amendment ordinance may be officially promulgated as early as tomorrow.

"We are deeply concerned about the trend of false and fabricated cases," he said. "The incident behind a case may be real, but often multiple innocent people are falsely implicated as part of a form of legal extortion or case trade. This reform aims to put an end to that practice."

He added that the reform came after extensive consultation with leading criminal law experts in Bangladesh, as well as a series of meetings with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Speaking about the changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Asif Nazrul said the amendment would help protect individuals from years of uncertainty in cases where they are falsely accused – particularly in serious charges like murder.

"In murder cases, investigations often take two to four years. During that time, hundreds of people may be named as accused. Many of them live in constant fear of arrest for years," he said.

Explaining the new process, he said that once a preliminary investigation report is prepared, the investigation officer will submit it to the Superintendent of Police (SP), Police Commissioner, or an official of equivalent rank. Upon their instruction, the report will then be submitted to a magistrate.

"If the magistrate sees that, say, 100 people have been accused in a case, but there is no evidence or witness against 90 of them, the magistrate can discharge those individuals at the pre-trial stage – before formal proceedings begin," he explained.

Asif Nazrul said this would allow the court to free innocent people early in the process, reducing the scope for abuse and legal harassment through false or politically motivated cases.

"We hope that once this becomes effective, people against whom there is no evidence in the preliminary report will be discharged by the court before trial begins. This will give relief to many victims of false cases or so-called case trading," he said.

However, he noted that the investigation will continue for the remaining accused. "If, after further investigation, sufficient evidence is found against any of the discharged individuals, police will be able to include their names again in the final report submitted to the court," he added.