HC orders govt to form regulations about presenting arrested people before media
The directive also mentioned that there should be regulations on how much information should be published in the media when the investigation is going on
The High Court today ordered the government to formulate regulations about presenting arrested people in front of the media.
In the directive, the court said, “It is necessary to formulate regulations for presenting a detained person in front of the media before that person is presented at court.”
The directive also mentioned that there should be regulations on how much information should be published in the media when the investigation is going on.
When granting Minni bail, the High Court published the complete verdict of the widely discussed Rifat Sharif murder case in Borguna on Sunday.
The Court gave the directive to the secretary of the public safety unit in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and to the director general of police.
Earlier on August 29, the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman disposed of the rule on her bail.
The court published a brief verdict that day.
Minni was the main witness in the murder case. At first, she was detained as a witness and later as a suspect.
Maruf Hossain, superintendent of police (SP) at Borguna, gave a press briefing about Minni’s statement under clause 164.
About that press briefing, the High Court said, “In whatever situation the comment was made, the SP talked about Minni who was in remand, and before she gave a statement in front of the magistrate according to the law. It raised many questions among the people.”
The court also said, “Even if what he said were the truth, he should have not talked about it to the media because it is untoward and goes against a proper and neutral investigation.
This is not expected of a responsible officer. He has paved the way for questions among people.
IGP will take necessary action after the police submit the report.”
The court said nowadays many detained suspects are brought in front of the media before they appear at court, which is humiliating for the accused and not supported from a human rights perspective.
The court further said, “We have to keep in mind that we cannot consider someone to be a criminal until it is proven in court. We should not do anything that may be insulting or harm the person’s reputation. Providing legal help is also everyone’s responsibility.
There are mainly five reasons behind Minni’s bail. Firstly, the First Information Report (FIR) mentioned her as the key witness. Secondly, she was detained in the local police station for a long time before being arrested. Thirdly, she did not get any legal assistance. Four, the SP’s comment before the media that “The accused has confessed her guilt”, “Minni had a connection with the murderers” and “She met them before the murder was committed” were made when she was in remand, and before she had given any statement. Five, as a woman, she could have been exempted from the CrPC clause 497.