Mohammad Tajul Islam
It is important to know and obey the laws himself to raise awareness in the society. I will write about one such topic today so that social awareness about drug laws can be raised. Drugs, child marriage, corruption are among the social problems of Bangladesh. Drug offenses and its uncontrollable status is the most discussed topics throughout the country. In some ways, while controlling drug crimes was not feasible, the current government adopted zero tolerance policy to curb drug crime. As a result, the Narcotics Control Act 2018 was enacted.
To make the drug law more dynamic and timely, a regular meeting of the Cabinet on February 3 approved the drafting of the ‘Drug Control (Amendment) Act, 2021’. The law has been in force since December 25 last year. The law stipulates that the government will establish the required number of tribunals with the notification of the official gazette and appoint judges from the rank of additional district judge in each tribunal. However, if there is no additional district judge in the district, the Sessions Judge in that district will perform the duties of the Additional Drug Crime Crime Tribunal. Until the tribunal was established, however, the Additional District and Sessions Judge, with the notification of the Government Gazette, had kept the provision of settlement of additional tribunal cases to its duty.
There are six definitions in the Drug Control Act, 20 of which 5 are new. Specific types of drug offenses have been taken into account. If someone is intoxicated by consuming drugs, he will be punished if he destroys people’s peace or commits the same crime three times. The law states that any new drug is discovered, even if it is not in the law. Under the existing law, not all drug crimes are prosecuted in the mobile court. The jurisdiction of the mobile court has been extended to all types of narcotics, including the Drug Control Act, Act 26, and the rearrangement of penalties on the basis of the minor and major divisions of the offense. Section 6 of Chapter Six of the Narcotics Control Act 20 states that audio and video as a new addition during the trial and trial of a crime, that the testimony of photographs, recorded conversations, etc., taken on camera, can serve as important electronic device testimony as evidence during the trial.
There are numerous drug crime cases under the Drug Control Act, but it is complicated by the trial. As a result, the number of cases is increasing. Justice cannot be established by punishing the real accused. Under section 22 of the law, amendments are made to section 22, which if amended, will result in trial of the jurisdiction of the drug offenses under this law. The concerned Sessions Judge, Metropolitan Sessions Judge may specify one or more courts for the trial of narcotic offenses only in the area of their jurisdiction. As a result, drug crime cases will be settled quickly. Now a special court will be formed. This will make justice easier. ‘The Judicial Magistrate will judge if sentenced to two years. Where there is a capital requirement, the Sessions Judge will judge. If the draft law says that the tribunal has not been given the additional responsibility of establishing an intoxicating crime tribunal for administrative reasons, or that the district or sessions judge has not been given additional duty, it demands a fair trial, scrutiny and discussion.
Mobile court magistrates have been given the responsibility of controlling drug addiction and crimes, not reading the law and lesser known of law. The mobile court has already been criticized for imposing punishment without the chemical testing of the drug. Section 4 of the Act, made under the Drug Control Act 20, provides for the trial of drug offenses in a mobile court. People have realized that there is no justice in mobile court. Without justice there will be no peace in society. The philosophy of the instant trial of the mobile court is actually a philosophy of intimidation. Attempts to popularize intimidating devices are suicidal. (Prothom-alo 1 November 25) The provision of compulsory death penalty has not reduced the rate of torture, rape of women. The provision of the trial of narcotics offenses in the mobile court, on the one hand, has reduced the penalties for drug offenses, as well as the zero tolerance policy against drugs by facing the two parallel trials of drug trafficking control. Therefore, instead of conducting trial in mobile court, considering the drug offense as a felony and a foul crime, the government should form a tribunal in accordance with the laws of drug laws and give the burden of trial to the appropriate courts and tribunals. Otherwise, the punishment for punishment of 6-12 months in mobile court and the fine of money alone will be ridiculous considering the importance and depth of the narcotics crime. Other important people in the Drug Control Act 20 will be forced to add new important issues and fail their trial. In that case, a culture of injustice will emerge and criminals will be able to commit crimes.
The new drug law combines child & Juvenile justice, drug business financiers and sponsors, the adoption of audio and video electric device testimony, rehabilitation of drug addicts, and the double punishment of drug offenders. Therefore, the drug control law is a groundbreaking and time-consuming law. The main purpose was to bring the drug cases under quick trial and arrest the offender. But it turns out there will be a six-month jail sentence. A district and a Sessions Judge rank officer is on trial where cases like murder cases can be hampered. Some have been jailed for six months, fined immediately, and the High Court of Appeal authority. He will have to come to Dhaka to appeal the conviction of Panchagarh or Teknaf. In view of these administrative matters, the Government has contemplated that if a special tribunal is made, a first-class magistrate could appeal against the court to the Judge’s Court. Millions of cases are pending in the Land Survey Tribunal. That will be corrected in the same way. It is now a matter of seeing how much the case can be reduced by assigning a new resignation or a new judge to the same judge by assigning responsibility for multiple cases.
There should be more publicity and promotion of the horrors of drugs. The Imam of the mosque, the temple priest, the church Fathers need to address about the demerits of drug in their speech. The disadvantages of drug service need to be addressed in the school-college textbook. All governments, political parties and politicians have to work from the same platform for the benefit of the country and society in controlling the drug. Then the drug control will be easy and sustainable. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu wanted to build a drug free society and declared war on drugs. The government has been working relentlessly to create a drug-free Bangladesh. So that Bangladesh can be a role model as a drug free country in the court of the world.
Md. Tajul Islam, Legal Analyst, Researcher and Columnist. Email: tajul_jdjbd71@yahoo.com
