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241

Law / ভাষাহীনদের ভাষা

« on: December 12, 2013, 10:27:37 PM »

যারা কথা বলতে পারে, তাদের জন্য মনের ভাব প্রকাশ করা যতটা সহজ এবং সাবলীল, যারা কথা বলতে বা শুনতে পারে না, তাদের জন্য বিষয়টা ঠিক ততটাই কঠিন। তাই বলে কি তারা মনের ভাব প্রকাশ করে না? অবশ্যই করে। তারা কয়েকটি বিশেষ সাংকেতিক ভাষায় তাদের মনের ভাব প্রকাশ করে। আন্তর্জাতিক মাতৃভাষা দিবসের এই মুখর সময়ে আসুন জেনে নিই ভাষাহীনদের ভাষার সাতকাহন।

 বিশ্বজুড়ে মূক ও বধিরদের জন্য বেশ কয়েকটি আদর্শ 'ইশারা ভাষা' রয়েছে। সাম্প্রতিককালে মুখের ভাষার সঙ্গে পাল্লা দিয়ে ইশারা ভাষাও ব্যাপক উন্নত হয়েছে। এই ইশারা ভাষার রয়েছে নিজস্ব ইতিহাস। পশ্চিমী দুনিয়ায় ষোড়শ শতকের শেষদিকে ইশারা ভাষার আনুষ্ঠানিক যাত্রা শুরু। ১৭৫৫ সালে অ্যাবে ডিআইএপি বধিরদের জন্য প্রথম স্কুলটি প্রতিষ্ঠা করেন ফদ্ধান্সের প্যারিসে। এই স্কুলেরই একজন স্বনামধন্য গ্রাজুয়েট হলেন লরেন্ট ক্লার্ক। তিনি পরে থমাস হপকিন্স গ্যালাওডেটের সঙ্গে আমেরিকায় আসেন এবং সেখানে 'আমেরিকান স্কুল ফর ডেফ' প্রতিষ্ঠা করেন।

ওই স্কুলটিই র্বতমানে গ্যালাওডেট বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় নামে পরিচিত এবং এটিই বধিরদের জন্য বিশেষ খবর একমাত্র মুক্তকলা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়। কথাভাষার মতো ইশারাভাষারও রয়েছে আঞ্চলিক রূপ। যেমন, আমেরিকার বিভিন্ন অঞ্চলে আমেরিকান ইশারাভাষার (এএসএল) বিভিন্ন রকম ব্যবহার দেখা যায়। একইভাবে ব্রিটিশ ইশারা ভাষারও (বিএসএল) রয়েছে কয়েকটি রূপ। নিকারাগুয়ার বধির স্কুলের শিশুরা যে ইশারাভাষা উদ্ভাবন করেছে, তা অন্য সব ভাষার মতোই প্রায় একটি পূর্ণাঙ্গ ভাষা। ইশারাভাষাগুলোর নিজস্ব ব্যাকরণও রয়েছে।

ইশারাভাষা ব্যবহার করে যে কোনো বিষয়ই বোঝানো সম্ভব। চিত্রনির্ভর লিখিত রূপও রয়েছে এসব ইশারাভাষার। ১৯৬৫ সালে উইলিয়াম স্টোকি আমেরিকান ইশারাভাষার একটি অভিধান প্রণয়ন করেন। সবচেয়ে আশ্চর্যজনক বিষয় হলো, ইশারাভাষায় এখন রচিত হচ্ছে ইশারাকবিতা। একজন ইশারাকবি যত চমৎকারভাবে কোনো একটি বিষয় ইশারায় উপস্থাপন করতে পারবেন, অনেক মুখর কবিও হয়তো ভাষার সাহায্যেয তা পারবেন না। বিশ্বাস করুন আর নাই করুন, মূক ও বধিররাও এখন চাইলে বহু ভাষাবিদ হতে পারবে! কারণ গবেষণায় দেখা গেছে, ইশারাভাষা ব্যবহারকারী
 চাইলে একাধিক ইশারা ভাষায় পারদর্শী হতে পারে।

আদুল্লাহ আরিফ। উৎসঃ দৈনিক সমকাল, ২১ ফেব্রুয়ারি, ২০০৮। http://www.samakal.net/print_edition/archive/details.php?news=9&view=archiev&y=2008&m=02&d=21&action=main&menu_type=&option=single&news_id=84576&pub_no=791&type=

242

Positive Bangladesh / The Sundarbans, Our Greatest Saviour

« on: December 12, 2013, 10:14:45 PM »

Abdullah Al Arif

Bangladesh is famous for two of its gifts of nature. One is the longest sea-beach of Cox's Bazar and another is the Sundarbans. But to be true, the impact of the Sundarbans on our life is far more than that of the beach. The Sundarbans is at the same time the largest mangrove forest in the world, a serene tourist spot, natural habitat for a large number of species -- some of which are facing threat of extinction -- source of living for millions of people of the south-western coastal region and finally, a saviour of the whole country in times of natural calamities like Sidr and Aila. In the event of Sidr in 2007, the forest suffered a severe blow. Its trees and animals were badly affected. But as the forest contains the indomitable spirit of living in itself, like the phoenix of Greek mythology, it survived the blow and became green again.

The forest stretches over Bangladesh and India, but Bangladesh has the larger portion of it. The area of Sundarbans in our country is 6,017 sq km, approximately 4% of the total area. Every country ought to have forests not less than 25% of its total area. We have only 16% and the Sundarbans covers 40% of it. Carbon emission by the advanced nations is causing catastrophic environmental damage such as climate change and the less developed and poor countries are the worst affected. In this backdrop, every country has to have its own protection against environmental odds and forestation is the ultimate solution. The Sundarbans is like a shield against the natural calamities that visit us routinely.

The impact of the Sundarbans on our life is manifold. It has its impact on the economy, environment and biodiversity. Most of the people of the southwestern region depend on the Sundarbans directly or indirectly for their livelihoods. Some of them collect honey from inside the forest and then sell them in the local market. They are called mouwali. A big portion of honey supply of our country comes from this forest. Some deal in golpata, a kind of tree-leaf that rural people use to make the roofs of their houses. The golpata tree abounds in the Sundarbans and those who collect them leaves are called bauwali. A large number of people also go fishing in the rivers to earn their bread.

Every year, some people who go inside the forest fall prey to the Royal Bengal Tiger, another world famous species that is facing threat of extinction. Getting to see the Royal Bengal Tiger in the Sundarbans is a rare opportunity, but pugmarks can be seen in almost every part of the forest. Herds of spotted deer sipping water from a lake is the scene that attracts tourists the most.

The write-up was first published in the Daily Star. http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2011/january/p_feature.htm

243

Law / Buying a plot or a flat?

« on: December 12, 2013, 02:50:18 PM »

If you are thinking of buying an apartment or a piece of land for either residential or business purposes, you need to complete the following legal requirements.


Confirm the record of rights from the Land Office

Land administration system in Bangladesh separates records of ownership and records of revenue as such. We have Land Records Offices for land records, surveys, publication and maintenance of records under the directorate of land records and survey, Ministry of Land.

We also have Land Revenue Offices under Ministry of Land. There are 11 administrative offices in each upazila (sub district). There are 64 districts in Bangladesh but only 61 of them have registration facility.

Three hill districts do not have registration centres. In Dhaka, the district land registration office has 13 Sub-registrar offices under the Ministry of Law.

Conduct mutation on property

Any transfers of titles subsequent to the last survey on Dhaka city must be converted (mutated) to the lat-est survey. From January 2012 city surveys are conducted in Dhaka city instead of conducting Revisional Survey (RS) mutation. This is done by the assistant commissioner of lands (Tahsil) and specific Tahsil offic-es.

In order to obtain this, an application is required to be made to the concerned assistant commissioner of land with particulars of the property. The assistant commissioner will forward the same to the concerned Tahsil office who are responsible for conducting the relevant survey and providing a report to assistant commissioner of land.

Upon receiving the report, the assistant commissioner of land renders the mutation certificate. From Janu-ary 1, 2012 all properties automatically come under City Survey Khatian (Record of rights).

Obtain inspection for RS mutation

The permission is only mandatory when the property is under the control of either the Ministry of Works (National Housing Authority) or Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkh). Although the permission is usually granted barring exceptions, unofficial payments are still paid in order to expedite the process and guaran-tee approval.

The buyer should make sure that the property is up to date with payments to the city corporation revenue department, gas utility service, electricity utility service, and the water utility service to make sure that there is no outstanding dues payable so that those liabilities do not transfer to him. These are standard steps and not mandatory for registration.

Obtain the non-encumbrance certificate from the relevant sub-registry office

The buyer should check the legal status of the land (mortgaged or leased or ownership) at the relevant Sub-registry office. From January 2012 onwards, both Sub-registry and Land Revenue Offices provide non-encumbrance certificates. Sometimes land report is required.

A land report gives an idea about the current status and ownership of the land that may include chain of ownership, land tax, land record, registry status etc, whereas a non-encumbrance certificate is used in property transactions as an evidence of entitlement of the property.

Prepare deed of transfer and pay stamp duty

A lawyer may prepare the transfer deed, but it can also be prepared by the parties themselves. The deed must be prepared in stamped paper that should cost 3% of the property value to get it. This represents the stamp duty.

Pay capital gains tax, registration fee, VAT and other taxes at a designated bank

Registration fee is payable to the bank in favour of the sub-registry office and the receipt is to be present-ed at the moment of applying for registration.

The buyer has to pay the local government tax to the concerned city corporation or municipality offices. Furthermore, a capital gains tax (CGT) and a VAT of 1.5% (applicable only for municipal corporation area payable by private housing and flat developers and commercial businesses) have to be paid at this stage. Capital gains tax is not applicable in rural areas for agriculture.

Apply for registration at the relevant Sub-registry

At this stage, the buyer may apply for registration at the Municipal Deed Registry Office, presenting the receipts of payment of the registration and other fees. A certified registration document is obtained within a week for the buyer’s record. The original sale deed/certificate requires about six months to be obtained.

Register the change in ownership at the Land Revenue Office

The change of ownership must be registered in the Land Revenue Office. The property is recorded under the name of the new owner, who is responsible for paying the land taxes from the day the property is transferred.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/aug/07/buying-plot-or-flat#sthash.wCTSeadc.dpuf

244

Law of Bangladesh / Fly the national flag judiciously

« on: December 12, 2013, 02:40:35 PM »

December 16 is our Victory Day and the whole nation is looking forward to observing this year’s Victory Day amidst all these blockade and violence. The national flag is an indispensable part of the celebration of our national days. We have also seen many people cheering in cricket and other sports with our national flag held in their hands, sometimes draped around their heads. Many people also fly the national flag in their houses and vehicles.

Are all these uses of our national flag lawful? Many of us may be surprised to know that we have a law regarding the use of our national flag. It’s called The People’s Republic of Bangladesh Flag Rules, 1972. The law provides detail guidelines relating to the size and color of the national flag, occasions when one can fly the national flag and use of flag in buildings, residences and vehicles, etc.

Our national flag

The national flag of Bangladesh consists of a red disc on a green field offset slightly towards the hoist so that it appears centered when the flag is flying. The red disc represents the sun rising over Bangladesh, and also the blood of those who sacrificed their lives for independence of Bangladesh. The green field stands for the lushness of the lands of Bangladesh.

Size and colour

According to the Flag Rules, the national flag will be bottle green and rectangular in size, in the proportion of length to width 10:6 bearing a red circle on the body of the green. The red circle will have a radius of one-fifth of the length of the flag. Its centre will be placed on the intersecting point of the perpendicular drawn from the nine-twentieth part of the length of the flag and the horizontal line drawn through the middle of its width.


1    Colour of the flag

a)  The green base of the flag will be of Procion Brilliant Green H-2RS 50 parts per 1,000.

b)  The red circular part will be of Procion Brilliant Orange H-2RS 60 parts per 1,000.

2    Size of the flag for building

a)  10ft × 6ft

b)  5ft ×3ft

c)  2.5ft × 1.5ft

(Depending on the size of the building)

3     Size of the flag for cars

a) 15in × 9in (For big cars)

b) 10in × 6in (For small and medium size cars)

Occasion on which the national flag is to be flown

On the following days and occasions national flag shall be flown on public and private buildings throughout Bangladesh and the office premises of Bangladesh diplomatic missions and consular posts:

a) Birthday of the Holy Prophet (Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi)

b) Independence Day on the March 26.

c) Victory Day on the December 16.

d) Any other day as may be notified by the government.

 

The flag shall be flown half-mast

a) Shaheed Day on February 21 and

b) All other days as may be notified by the government

Use of the national flag on government buildings, official residence, motor cars, etc

The national flag shall be flown on all working days on important government buildings and offices, eg the President House, legislative assembly buildings, all ministries and the secretariat buildings of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, offices of the High Court, courts of district and session judges, offices of the commissioners of divisions, deputy commissioner/collectors, chairman, Upazila Parishad, central and district jails, Police Stations, Custom Posts, primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions and such other buildings as may be notified by the government from time to time.

The following persons shall be entitled to fly the national flag on motor vehicles and vessels:

a)  The Speaker of Parliament

b)  The Chief Justice of Bangladesh

c)  Cabinet Ministers

d)  Chief Whip

e)  Deputy Speaker of Parliament

f)   The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament

g)  Persons accorded status of a Cabinet Minister

h)  Heads of Diplomatic/Consular Missions of Bangladesh in foreign countries

     (The national flag shall be flown only when the dignitary concerned is in the car or vessels)

We got our national flag at the cost of the blood of the greatest sons of our soil. So, we should abid by the law when it comes to the use of our national flag. Beside the legal issues it is our sacred duty to respect our national flag. We should follow the rules regarding time, place, and manner of flying our national flag.

Written by: Mohammad Mozadded Hassan Adnan. He has an LLM from Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at adnaninfinity@yahoo.com

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/dec/11/fly-national-flag-judiciously#sthash.F7zaQjxL.dpuf

245

Law of Bangladesh / Re: Are our political leaders compliant?

« on: December 12, 2013, 02:27:52 PM »

Well said, Manjur! We should look into ourselves to discover our shortcomings. Now or never.

246

Law / Tenants have rights too

« on: December 09, 2013, 04:12:35 PM »

Statistic shows that nearly 85% people in Dhaka city are living as renters. Many of them are not familiar with the law relating to rental fees of properties. Hence they are often harassed and sometimes cheated by some unscrupulous landowners.
 
We have the Premises Rent Control Act, 1991 in place to regulate rents of premises. Let us now see what are the rights that renters have under the law.
 
Advance payment
According to Section 10 of the act, landowners are not allowed to claim any premium, salami, security or any other sum in addition to the rent for granting, renewal or continuance of a tenancy of any premises. However, with the previous consent of the controller, who is appointed by the government under this act, landowners may claim one month's rent of such premises as rent in advance.
 
Receipt for paid rents
According to Section 13 of the act, where a tenant has paid his rent, the landlord shall give forthwith to the renter a signed receipt for the rent. The landlord shall also retain a counterpart of the receipt.
 
Restriction on increasing of rent
According to Section 16 of the Act, landlords are not allowed to increase the rent of the premises for two years once the standard rent, fixed by the controller, takes effect. The standard rent can be refixed only after two years. Section 8 and 9 of the act provides exception to this general rule. According to these sections, a landlord may claim an additional sum if any addition, improvement or alteration, not included in necessary repairs, has been made to the premises to the landlord's expense or any furniture has been supplied by the landlord.
 
Determining the standard rent
The controller appointed by this act, upon an application made by the landlord or tenant, shall determine the standard rent of any premises at an amount per annum which shall be equivalent to 15% of the market-value of the premises, says Section 15 of the act.
 
Maintenance and repairs
Section 21 of the act requires landlords to maintain the premises in a livable condition for the tenant. Landowners are also bound to make necessary repairs to the premises let by them or to take any measures for the maintenance of any essential supply including the maintenance of supply of water or electricity, the maintenance of drainage service and the maintenance of any lift, which the landlord is bound to maintain in the premises let by him under the conditions of the contract or according to local usage. If the landlord fails to make such repairs, the tenant may himself make such repairs and submit to the controller a statement of the cost thereof.
 
Eviction from the premises
No tenant shall be evicted from the premises as long as he/she pays rent to the full extent and performs the conditions of the contract, says Section 18(1) of the act. Even if the ownership of the premises gets changed, the tenant shall not be evicted as long as the he/she pays rent to the full extent and performs the conditions of the contract, says Section 18(2) of the act.
 
Penalties for infringement of the provisions of the act
 
Section 23 of the act provides for penalties for infringement of any provision of the act. It says:
If any landowner knowingly takes rent in excess of the standard rent, he will be liable on the first occasion to a fine which may extend to twice the amount recovered in excess of the standard rent, and on every subsequent occasion to a fine which may extend to three times the amount of such excess.

If any landlord receives or asks for, whether directly or indirectly, any premium, salami, security or any other like sum in addition to the standard rent for any reason, he will be liable on the first occasion to a fine which may extend to Tk2000 and on every subsequent occasion to a fine which may extend to Tk5000.

If any landlord receives any sum as rent in advance in excess of one month's rent without the written consent of the controller, he will be liable on the first occasion to a fine which may extend to twice the amount received in excess of one month's rent, and on every subsequent occasion to a fine which may extend to three times the amount received in excess of one month's rent.

247

Law / Re: Talaque-e Tafweez in Muslim Law (Talaque by women)

« on: December 09, 2013, 04:06:06 PM »

Thank you for your informative and useful write-up! Enrich us with more of this kind.

248

Law of Bangladesh / BMS law: Protecting the future generation

« on: December 09, 2013, 03:14:49 PM »

Kajal Abdullah

Bangladesh enacted its first ever law regarding breast milk substitutes (BMS) to protect and promote the breast-feeding of children almost 30 years ago.  The ordinance was called “Breast Milk Substitutes (Regulation of Marketing) Ordinance, 1984.”  The law had some limitations and was weakening over time.

In 2013 Bangladesh Government has come up with a stricter act abolishing the previous ordinance.

This act is entitled “Breast-Milk Substitutes, Baby Foods, Commercially Manufactured Supplementary Baby Foods and Its Equipment (Regulation of Marketing) Act, 2013.” The aim of this act is to protect the children of zero to five

years of age.

The act calls for complete restriction on advertisement of breast milk substitutes, baby foods, children’s food supplements and its equipment.

Also, it authorises the government to form a nine member national advisory committee headed by a chairman to ensure implementation of the law.

 

Breast milk substitutes, baby foods, and commercially manufactured supplementary baby foods

According to the law, breast milk substitutes refer to any food which is represented as a partial or total substitute to breast milk for the infant up to six months of age.

Whereas baby foods refer to any food for the children more than six months of age which is represented as partial or total substitute to breast milk. On the other hand, commercially manufactured supplementary baby foods refer to any additional food which is manufactured commercially for the kids aged six months to five years.

 

Equipment of BMS and Baby foods

It refers to the equipment which is used in feeding breast milk substitutes, baby foods and supplementary baby foods such as feeding bottles, teats etc.

Registration is a must

Section 5 of this act prohibits import, manufacture, sale and distribution of food supplements for children without prior registration under Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), Bangladesh. Section 10 authorises the director of IPHN to give registration of breast milk substitutes, baby foods, and commercially manufactured supplementary baby foods. Such registration is for three years and is renewable after expiration.

 

Cancellation of registration

Section 11 deals with cancellation of registration. The director of IPHN can cancel the registration for breast milk substitutes, baby foods, and commercially manufactured baby food supplements with a prior notice of fifteen days, if the concerned party gives false information while getting registration or violates any provision of the act.

 

No advertising to public

This is the quintessence of this act. According to section 4, following activities will be considered as violation of the law if done by any manufacturer or representative of breast milk substitutes, baby foods, supplementary baby foods, and its equipment with a view to promoting their products:

 

               Display, distribute, exhibit, publish, or advertise in any form to public (especially to the people related to health, nutrition and education sector).
               Offer any kind of promotional package like free products, discount, gifts, etc for the purpose of selling or marketing.
               Organise or support any event, programme, and competition to promote any breast milk substitutes, baby foods, and supplementary baby foods.
               Use health care centres or drug stores as sales or promotional points.
               Directly contact with expecting and breast feeding mothers.
               Allure anybody (especially health officials and staff) to attend any seminar/conference/symposium/workshop/study tour/research which is sponsored/organised by firm/company related to breast milk substitutes, baby foods, supplementary baby foods, and its equipment.
 

Containers and labelling

According to section 6 of the act, each food supplements must situate in a sealed and hermetically closed container and they cannot be marketed unless fulfilling the following conditions:

 

Containers and labels of BMS products must include

 

               A visible and intelligible message in BANGLA has to be printed on the container to the effect that “nothing is substitute for or equivalent or superior to breast-milk.”
               Ingredient used, batch number, registration number, and the dates of its manufacture and expiry have to be printed on the container.
               Clear instructions on preparation and composition.
               Some basic information about breastfeeding.
 

Containers and labels of BMS products mustn’t include

 

               Any picture of infant or mother or both or such other picture or writing which may establish the use of these products.
               Use of cartoons or signs identifying the alternative baby foods and food supplements.
 

Enforcement

IPHN, Bangladesh is the authority under this act to enforce the law. Civil surgeon at district level and chief health officer at city corporation area are the authorised persons to look after the law. Any authorised person can search any place to inquire about any stuff which may cause violation

of this act.

Despite being a good piece of legislation, the law suffers from poor enforcement. The government’s focus should be on proper implementation of the law. Fortunately, social awareness is our only strength to fight against the powerful BMS companies and child malnutrition. We must make use of this strength to ensure proper nutrition for our future generation.

Kajal Abdullah is a journalist and a development activist. He can be reached at kajalfbi@gmail.com. The article was first published in Dhaka Tribune, Thursday, December 5, 2013.

249

Law of Bangladesh / Are our political leaders compliant?

« on: December 05, 2013, 03:14:40 PM »

The schedule for the 10th Parliamentary Election has already been declared and we have entered into the pre-election period. The Election Commission has also amended the Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates, 2008 to suit the upcoming national election. The code of conduct is prepared by the Election Commission under the rule-making power given in Section 91B of the Representation of the People Ordinance (RPO), 1972.

Pre-election period
Pre-election period means the time between the announcement of the election schedule and the publication of election results in the official gazette.

VIPs of the government

Prime minister, speaker of the parliament, ministers, chief whip, deputy speaker, leader of the opposition, deputy chief of the parliament, deputy chief of the opposition, deputy ministers, state ministers, whips, members of the parliament and mayors of the city corporations will be considered very important persons (VIPs) of the government.

Here are some salient features of the code of conduct for our readers:

Commencement of election campaign
 No political party, nominated candidate or independent candidate or any other person on their behalf shall not commence any election campaign prior to three weeks from the prescribed date of the election.

Posters, banners, portraits and symbols used in election campaigns

a) The posters and banners used in the election campaign shall be in black and white
b) The size of the posters shall not exceed 60centimetre × 45centimetre
c) The size of the banners shall not exceed 3metre × 1metre
d) No candidate shall use symbols and portraits of any person other than his/her own.
However, in case the candidate is nominated by a political party, he/she may use the portraits of the head of his/her political party
e) The size of the portrait shall not exceed 60centimetre × 45centimetre
f) The size of any election symbol used by any contesting candidate shall not exceed 3metres in length, width and height

Subscription, donation etc to any person/organization is prohibited

Any candidate or any other person on his/her behalf shall not offer or promise to offer any subscription, donation, etc to any person or organisation of his/her constituency either publicly or privately in the pre-election period.

Approval of public projects, unveiling of plaques, etc are prohibited

a) During the pre-election period no candidate shall approve, declare approval, lay foundation stone for or unveil plaque of any development or revenue projects of government in any government, semi-government or autonomous organisation.

b) In the pre-election period no government VIPs shall declare any donation, grant any fund, or release any money in favour of any person or group or institution from any fund belonging to any government, semi-government or autonomous institution.

Election campaign by government VIPs

a) No government VIPs shall combine their official visit with electioneering work.
b) No government VIPs shall use government vehicles, transmission equipment, or exploit any other government facilities for the purpose of election campaign for himself or on behalf of any other person. In addition, government VIPs shall not employ any personnel of any government, semi government or autonomous institution, or any teacher, officer or staff of any government, semi government or autonomous educational institution.
c) No contesting candidate shall preside over any government-funded development activities or attend any such meeting.
d) No contesting candidate holding a position of president or member of any educational institution, or any other person nominated by him holding such position shall preside over or attend any meeting of such institution, or engage himself with any activities of such institution.
e) No government VIPs, not being an agent for himself or any other person, shall enter into the poll center or being present in the vote counting room of a poll centre.
f) In case of parliamentary election of a constituency where the seat is vacant, no government VIPs shall go to that place for visit or electioneering works during the pre-election period. Provided that if any government VIP is a voter of the concerned constituency, he/she may go there only to exercise his/her voting right.

Penalty for the violation of the code of conduct

If any candidate or any other person on his behalf violates any provision of this code of conduct during the pre-election period, he/she will be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months or a fine which may extend to Tk50,000. If any political party violates any provision of this code of conduct, it shall be liable to a fine which may extend to Tk50,000.

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Law of Bangladesh / How to lodge a General Diary (GD) to the Police Station

« on: November 21, 2013, 12:22:05 PM »

To lodge a General Diary you will have to go to the police station of the area where the incident has taken place or likely to take place. If you do not know where exactly the incident has happened or going to happen, you may go to the nearest police station. Then you have to write an application mentioning the incident with sufficient detail and hand it over to the duty officer of the police station. The application has to be addressed to the officer in charge (OC) of the police station and provide your name, present address, permanent address and contact number at the bottom of the application. Upon receiving the application the duty officer will put it down in a register and will give you a number. That is your General Diary number for future reference.
Bangladesh Police has also introduced a online service for filing General Diaries. The service is called 'Citizen Help Request (CHR)' and is currently operational only for Dhaka city mostly for ‘Non-Urgent Cases’ which can be accessed from here: http://chr.police.gov.bd.

The ‘Non-Urgent Cases’ includes:
•   Information about loss/theft of passports, certificates, identity cards, bank cheques,  and other important documents
•   Information on snatching
•   Information on hang-outs of eve teasers, drug addicts or miscreants and any other unlawful assembly that may impede public peace
•   Information about new recruitment or disappearance of night guards, guards, servants, caretakers
•   Information about new/old tenants
Please note that there is no charge for filing of a General Diary. If you cannot write the application, the duty officer will assist you in writing it. For this there is no service charge as well. 

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Law of Bangladesh / What you cannot post on facebook

« on: October 30, 2013, 10:14:54 PM »

Anybody may get tempted seeing the enticing question ''what's on your mind?" on the writing panel of 'their facebook page and may very well land in jail for writing what they truly had on their minds. One may argue that his facebook page is his personal thing or he has the constitutional right to freedom of speech, privacy etc but the truth is, one really cannot write whatever comes to his/her mind on facebook. There are a couple of laws that tell us what not to write on electronic and social media, for example, facebook, twitter, personal blog sites and for that matter, anywhere that goes public. Here is a brief guideline for our readers on what not to write on these social media:

•   Fake, obscene or defaming information or comment in electronic form:
Section 57 of ICT Act 2006 prohibits publishing fake, obscene or defaming information in electronic form. It says that if any person deliberately publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the website or in electronic form any material which is fake and obscene or its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, or causes to deteriorate or creates possibility to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the State or person or causes to hurt or may hurt religious belief or instigate against any person or organization, then this activity of his will be regarded as an offence.
And anyone who commits any of these acts shall face imprisonment for a term which may extend to 14 years and with fine which may extend to Taka one crore. Please note that the offence under this section is non-bailable and police may arrest without warrant.

•   Comments containing hatred or contempt or hostility towards the Government:
Section 124A of the Penal Code says that whoever by words, either spoken or written, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite hostility towards, the Government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life or any shorter term, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

•   Comments hurting religious feelings and insulting  the religion or the religious beliefs:
According to Section 295A of Penal Code, whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Bangladesh, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

•   Comments that is defamatory:
Section 499 of Penal Code says, whoever by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or published any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation or such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter excepted, to defame that person.

Compiled by Abdullah Al Arif