Home ministry orders withdrawing 12,000 'politically motivated' cases
The home ministry has ordered the withdrawal of 12,000 cases filed by police across the country during the Awami League government's tenure, which have been described as "politically motivated".
The decision is being implemented under Section 494 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, which allows a public prosecutor, with court consent, to withdraw from prosecuting an accused person before judgment.
If the withdrawal occurs before charges are framed, the accused is discharged; if after charges are framed or when no charge is required, the accused is acquitted.
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Public prosecutors in the respective districts have been instructed to proceed with the withdrawals, according to sources. Most recently, on Sunday, the ministry ordered the withdrawal of 241 cases in the Dhaka Metropolitan area, Narayanganj, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, Noakhali, and Dinajpur districts.
On 22 September last year, the Public Security Division of the home ministry formed two committees to handle such cases—one at the ministry level, led by Asif Nazrul, adviser to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the other at the district level, headed by the deputy commissioner or district magistrate.
The initial deadline for applying to withdraw politically motivated or false cases was 31 December 2024. District committees were tasked with recommending withdrawal cases, which the ministry-level committee would then review.
However, by that deadline, the ministry had not received any special lists from the district committees. It was only after the deadline passed that some deputy commissioners began sending in lists, leading to an extension of the application deadline until further notice.
Officials from the law and home ministries are now meeting weekly to process the withdrawals.
A senior home ministry official said the ministry-level committee has held 23 meetings and recommended the withdrawal of 17,000 cases so far. Orders have been issued for 12,000 of them.
Most involve the Special Powers Act, the Arms Act, and the Explosives Act, and were filed in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023. Thousands of accused, including political leaders and activists, are named in these cases.
