Your
Advocate
This
week your advocate is M. Moazzam Husain of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
His professional interests include civil law, criminal law and constitutional
law.
Q:
Sometimes we see those most hated criminals like terrorists, rapists,
killers etc get bail from courts. On many occasions they are released
from courts honourably. News of bail of such criminals make headlines
in different news papers. I do not understand how the killers. terrorists,
rapists can get bail from courts. Some times Govt is found to express
concern over bail granted to the die-hard criminals. Few days back I
came across a news item in a newspaper that the donors have held our
police and lower courts responsible for deterioration of law and order
situation, which I think, has undermined the image of our country before
international community. I want to know from you how you see it as lawyer.
Palash Ahmed Choudhury
Rail Road, Jessore.
Your
Advocate: Thank you for such a worthwhile and fairly pertinent
question. It is very natural for a conscious citizen to be disturbed
with the sight of a news of bail granted to criminals of the kind. It
may prejudice an innocent mind against the courts. I also as a professional
lawyer do not relish such news. I always feel uncomfortable with bail
granted to professional criminals. I wish they were not granted bail.
But as a law knowing man on more occasions than not I find it difficult
to say that the grounds on which they are granted bail are not good
grounds for such release. After all the basic principle of law is -
every person shall be presumed innocent unless found guilty by a competent
court. Moreover, every moment's liberty of a citizen is guaranteed by
the Constitution. It is said that law is blind. Law does not know who
is a mastan, top terror, godfather etc. Law blindly requires proof.
Judges sit upon cases with absolutely impartial mind and are not supposed
to take notice of the alleged offender's ill repute or the particular
way he is called or known in the society. If some way or other the judge
acquires personal knowledge about any accused law debars him from sitting
upon his case because he may not do justice to the accused with a prejudiced
mind. Therefore, if the Govt, agencies cannot produce evidence enough
to justify detention of the accused he is entitled under law to be released
on bail or acquitted on trial whichever is applicable.
Whatever I have said should not be taken as to be said by way of justification
of bail to persons ,society wants to be detained and punished. Nor do
I blame the law or the time-honoured principles of law. They are great.
The factors responsible for such bail or release, as I see it, lie in
the justice administration system of our country. There are serious
weaknesses in the police-investigations. Investigating agencies in many
cases lack in efficiency and professionalism. So the facts and materials
necessary for connecting an alleged offender to the offence are not
being collected. Moreover, the prosecutors in many cases are not well
experienced. As a result though some hardened criminals are being arrested
they are virtually being released for want of necessary documents and
materials on records.
At the side of Govt. I think it is more a case of finding out the internal
infirmities of the system and take steps to remove them than to express
concern. If our investigating agencies are modernised and well equipped
and the prosecution is standardised unpalatable news will substantially
disappear from the pages of the news papers and the donors will get
hardly any scope to blame our police or judiciary.
Corresponding
Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law Desk,
The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215;
telephone 8124944, 8124955, 8124966; fax 8125155, 8126154; email <dslawdesk@yahoo.co.uk>
