After the arrest, the accused was brought before the media and served with a legal notice to stop the speech

A legal notice has been sent to the concerned persons to refrain from appearing before the media immediately after the arrest while in the custody of law and order forces outside the magistrate’s court.

Home Ministry Secretary (Public Security Department), Inspector General of Police (IGP), DMP Commissioner, Additional Inspector General of Police (CID), Additional Inspector General of Police (DB) and Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Notice sent.

On Tuesday (November 7) on behalf of 10 lawyers, another lawyer of the Supreme Court, Advocate Md. Mahbubur Rahman Khan sent this notice. The lawyers are – Advocate Russell Ahmed, Advocate Abdulah Al Mahmud, Advocate Al-Faisal Siddiqui, Advocate Md. Mohsin Kabir, Advocate Md. Nazrul Islam Choton, Advocate Md. Shafiqul Islam, Advocate Samshun Noor Bandhan, Advocate Shahriar Mahmud, Advocate Md. Nurul Huda and Advocate Rashedul Haque.

According to the notice, judicial magistrates alone have jurisdiction to take the confessional statement of the accused under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Presenting an accused before the media while he is in the custody of the law-enforcement forces is contrary to the judgment of the High Court and amounts to contempt of court. Legal Notices are regular advocates of the Supreme Court and conscious citizens of the society and are always loud voices for the rule of law, ensuring justice and upholding the Constitution.

It is said in the notice that recently it has been observed from various media and social media that the law enforcement forces have arrested various persons on charges of criminal offenses and while in their custody, the arrested persons are being presented in front of the media in connection with the crimes committed. Such activities of the law enforcement agencies are not only politically motivated but also outside the legal authority and illegal.

It states that only judicial magistrates have the jurisdiction to take the confessional statement of an accused person under the provisions of Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In addition, the concerned investigating officer has the authority to remand the accused person for questioning as per the order of the court and submit the remand report to the court after the questioning. But in any case, there is no opportunity to publicize the confession of the arrested persons by presenting them in front of the media.

The notice also states that the High Court Division has directed that no person accused of criminal charges should appear before the media while in the custody of the police or law enforcement agencies. Ayesha Siddika Minni v. State in the case of High Court Justice M. Inayetur Rahim and Justice Md. Reference was made to the bench comprising Mustafizur Rahman.

The legal notice with reference to the court said, the judgment promulgated in Criminal Misc. Case No- 47253/2019 clearly states that, ‘It would be pertinent to mention here that, lately, it is observed that during the course of investigation of various discussed offences, the police – Accused persons arrested by various law and order forces, including RAB, are presented in front of the media in various ways before being produced in the respective courts, which is often undignified and unacceptable from a human rights point of view; And media briefings about the investigation of various cases are carried out with great enthusiasm.’

The notice said, we must all remember that until and unless an accused is found guilty on the basis of evidence at the end of trial in court, it cannot be conclusively said that he is the real culprit or that the crime was committed by him. It is not appropriate to present an arrested person before the media in such a way that his dignity and honor are lost and during the investigation i.e. before the filing of the police report, it is not appropriate to present any statement to the media about the arrested person or the investigation process of the case, which raises public debate or questions about the impartiality of the investigation. can create

We need to remember further that it is the duty of all concerned to ensure the legal rights of an accused during the investigation and trial of the case, the notice said. Therefore, bringing an accused person before the media while he is in the custody of various law and order forces including Police-RAB is contrary to the above judgment of the court and amounts to contempt of court.

In view of the above statement, it is requested to refrain from presenting any accused person before the media and publicizing the statement of the said person after receiving the notice. Otherwise, the senders of the notice will be forced to take necessary legal action including filing a contempt of court petition in the High Court Division, the notice said.