The High Court has asked the government to frame a law to protect witnesses and ensure their presence in court on dates fixed for hearing in criminal cases.
Manny rights organisations have been demanding such a law or similar measures for a long time.
The bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and Amir Hossain on Sunday issued the order after records revealed that no witnesses had testified in a murder case during the past six years.
The secretaries to the home affairs and law ministries have been directed to implement the court order.
The court said the law should hold the public prosecutor and the police officer concerned accountable if witnesses do not show up in court even after getting the summons.
Different organisations, including the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, have been demanding such witness protection law ever since the trial of 1971 war criminals began in 2010.
The parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs, too, had prodded the government in 2013 to pass such a law.
Monday’s order came in view of an inordinate delay in resolving a 2010 murder case.
On Jun 13 that year, one ‘Rinku’ had been shot dead in Dhaka’s Kutubkhali.
His brother-in-law had filed the case at Jatrabarhi Police Station, accusing five people, including one ‘Hira’.
After his arrest, Hira reportedly confessed to his crimes in a statement given to the trial court in July that year. Police submitted the chargesheet later.
After the lower court rejected his bail plea, Hira moved the High Court on Nov 11 this year for bail. His lawyer told the court that no witness had testified in the case in the past six years.
Witness deposition in the case, currently being heard by Dhaka’s Additional Sessions Judge’s Court, is to commence soon.
The High Court last week had ordered that court’s public prosecutor to appear before it. Additional Public Prosecutor Asaduzzaman Rochi appeared in court on Monday and placed the prosecution’s version.
Rochi later told bdnews24.com that a witness was supposed to appear in court on Jan 29 this year but could not do so because of a general strike.
The witness will be there on Feb 22, the next date fixed for recording witness testimonies, he added.
Deputy Attorney General Sheikh Moniruzzaman Kabir told bdnews24.com the court had rejected Hira’s bail appeal and directed the government to ensure witnesses’ appearance in court.
Source: bdnews24