SC upholds guidelines to stop arbitrary arrest on suspicion

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday upheld its guidelines for police, magistrates and judges to stop arbitrary arrests of people on suspicion and torturing them on remand.
A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after hearing a review petition filed by the government challenging the court's 2016 judgment.
The government had argued that the guidelines were too restrictive and would make it difficult for law enforcement to crack down on criminals. However, the court rejected the arguments and said that the guidelines were necessary to protect the rights of citizens.
The court also asked the government to ensure that the guidelines are implemented in letter and spirit.
During the hearing, the court asked what the difficulty was for police about informing the families of individuals who had been arrested.
The court told Attorney General AM Amin Uddin that there should be no objection to law enforcement officials making a memorandum of arrest, including taking the signatures of the arrested persons and informing their families of their detention, all for the sake of transparency.
AM Amin Uddin, who represented the government, told the court that there was opposition to the word "immediately" and that there was no legal provision for making a memorandum of arrest after detaining people.
During the hearing of the review petition, the Appellate Division told the attorney general that the court had issued the verdict with the guidelines after considering all the relevant circumstances.
"But the law enforcers have not yet implemented the guidelines. What is the difficulty in this regard?" the court asked.
The attorney general replied that notorious terrorists and militants could take advantage of the guidelines.
On April 7, 2003, the High Court (HC) delivered its verdict against arbitrary arrest on suspicion while responding to a writ petition filed by a group of human rights organisations and individuals after the death of university student Shamim Reza Rubel in police custody in 1998.
In the judgment, the HC asked the government to amend some provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1898, which the HC said contradicts the constitution and provides police with the arbitrary exercise of power.
To stop police from making arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing arrestees on remand, the HC also issued a 15-point directive and asked the government to comply with it immediately.
Later the government filed an appeal against the judgment. On May 24, 2016, the Appellate Division dismissed the appeal and upheld the HC verdict with modifications.
It also issued a 19-point guideline for police, magistrates and judges to stop arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing arrestees on remand. Later in 2017, the government filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking a review of its judgment.
Lawyers ZI Khan Panna, Aneek R Haque and Md Shahinuzzaman appeared for the writ petitioners during the hearing of the review petition.

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