Staff Correspondent
The Election Commission is yet to requisition any judicial magistrates for election duties to deal with electoral offences with only three working days in hand before national polls.
Election commissioner Sakhawat Hussain, however, told New Age the commission on Monday had asked its secretariat to send a requisition letter to the government in this regard.
Seven hundred and fifteen executive magistrates have, meanwhile, been engaged in election duties to keep law and order during the polls.
On the other hand, the establishment ministry on Monday sent a letter to the commission regarding engagement of executive magistrates in election duties.
The letter on the ‘engagement of executive magistrates and investing them with the powers of judicial magistrates,’ said on receipt of the letter from the commission for the employment of executive magistrates on election duties, 396 officials of the administrative cadre, including assistant commissioners (land), had been employed.
The letter further said on requisition from the divisional commissioners, 319 Bangladesh Civil Service officials had been appointed executive magistrates investing them with the powers to run mobile courts under the Mobile Court Ordinance 2007.
The letter, however, said there was no scope to invest executive magistrates with the powers of judicial magistrates as the Supreme Court has already rejected the appeal for doing so.
The Supreme Court has rejected the move of both the home ministry and Election Commission to invest executive magistrates with powers to try electoral offences during the December 29 general elections.
The commission received a letter from the Supreme Court, said a high official in the commission secretariat.
The commission on November 27 decided to empower executive magistrates to hold trials of electoral offences. It sent a letter to the establishment ministry asking it to obtain Supreme Court permission for the implementation of the decision.
In the letter, the commission also mentioned the limitations of the executive magistrates to hold summary trials of electoral offences unless they were given powers to try the offences.
The home ministry on December 7 issued a circular on election security saying the divisional commissioners and district magistrates would take necessary steps to engage executive magistrates when the establishment ministry got the Supreme Court permission for giving them electoral offence trial authority.
As the Code of Criminal Procedure does not allow executive magistrates to do the job, both the commission and the home ministry asked the establishment ministry to seek Supreme Court permission in this regard.
In keeping with the code, only judicial magistrates are authorised to try electoral offences as such offences are punishable with imprisonment, fine or both. Executive magistrates have no authority to award imprisonment for any offences and they can only fine individuals.
According to the Representation of the People Order, an individual could be jailed for two to seven years and fined for committing electoral offences on the polling day.
According to the order, magistrates are assigned on the polling day to hold summary trial of electoral offences including interfering or attempting to interfere when a voter records his vote, intentionally defacing or destroying a ballot paper, creating obstacles to conducting elections or counting of votes, resorting to an act of violence or unruly behaviour, giving threats or intimidating voters or people involved in election activities or duties.
The law ministry on November 16 amended the Mobile Court Ordinance to include the offences laid out in the Representation of the People Order under the jurisdiction of mobile courts run by executive magistrates.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
