Staff Correspondent

The ministerial committee has recommended the withdrawal of 4615 cases identifying those to be filled for harassment on political ground.

"The ministry-level committee formed for scrutinizing political harassment cases so far held six meetings and recommended withdrawing 4,615 politically motivated cases which were filed for harassment," Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry spokesperson Dr Md Rezaul Karim told this correspondent.

The government on September 22 formed two separate committees at the ministry and at the district level aimed at withdrawing politically motivated cases filed for harassment, asking all concerned to submit applications with FIRs and charge sheets if required by December 31, 2024.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser is heading the six-member ministry-level committee while the concerned district magistrate is leading the four-member district-level committee.

Members of the ministry-level committee are the home ministry's public security division senior secretary, additional secretary (law and order) and joint secretary (law), and representative from law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry (not below the rank of joint secretary).

Deputy secretary/senior secretary, assistant secretary, Law-1, public security division has been entrusted with the charge of member secretary of the committee.

Members of the district-level committees are the superintendent of police (a deputy commissioner for metropolitan areas), public prosecutors (metropolitan magistrate for the cases of the metropolitan areas) and additional district magistrate (member secretary).

The ministry-level committee is preparing a list of the cases appropriate for withdrawal after reviewing the recommendations sent from the district-level committees, initiating the process for withdrawal of the cases.

Apart from this, the committee will also prepare another list of the politically motivated cases filed under The Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 as these cases cannot be withdrawn sans the commission's written orders as per section 10 (4) of The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958. The government will later decide the next course of action to this end.