The Article 33 of our Constitution prevented such detention in general cases and also added some accountability on the judiciary for not keeping such person in jail beyond a limited time without trial. But many ill-fated people lost the bigger part of their life as the state made them to suffer so. The question is who will be held accountable for it and who will compensate them. In our view the state should compensate them and recover the money from those who led them to suffer without trial. It is a gross violation of human rights and citizens’ liberty enshrined in the Constitution.
News report said 87 such prisoners are held up in Kashimpur Jail while the Chittagong Central Jail has 56, Cox’s Bazar District Jail has 31, Comilla District Jail has 17 and Sylhet Central Jail has 14. The number of under-trials accused kept in jails for less than five years is more than 55,000. In Shipon case, the HC ordered the lower court concerned to finish the trial proceedings in 60 working days. On December 4, the same HC Bench set time limits for the lower courts to finish the trial against four other under-trial accused who have been in jail for 14 to 16 years. The court granted bail to three of them and ordered the trial courts to conclude the trial in 90 days. However, it refrained from granting bail to another prisoner, Chan Miah, as he gave confessional statements before police and a magistrate in connection with the murder case filed against him. The lower court has been asked to end the trial proceedings against Chan Miah in 60 days.
The power of police has gone up fearfully. In the absence of strict discipline in police the judicial process is vitiated. The government’s over-dependence on police and using police to file politically motivated criminal cases is of no help for the police to act as faithful law enforcers. The Supreme Court is the only hope to save helpless people from abuse of police power.
