No amendment of Sec 54 before release of full verdict

Staff Correspondent: Law Minister Anisul Huq has said that the government will not take steps to amend the Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1898 before release of full Supreme Court verdict.

The minister said this while talking to reporters after attending a programme at Judicial Administration Training Institute in the city on Sunday.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) recently upheld the High Court (HC) directives on the sections 54 (arrest under suspicion) and 167 (interrogation under remand) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order.

Bangladesh Legal and Services Trust filed a writ over the death of Independent University student Shamim Reza Rubel in police custody in 1998. He was detained under Section 54. The HC had issued a rule on the government in connection with the writ.

After hearings on the rule, the High Court in 2003 gave some instructions and recommendations on CrPc Section 54, under which police can detain a person on suspicion without any charge.

risingbd/DHAKA/May 29, 2016/Mehedi/Mukul