Verdict on sections 54 and 167 appeal May 24

The Supreme Court (SC) has set May 24 to announce its verdict on the appeal against the High Court directives on the sections 54 (arrest under suspicion) and 167 (interrogation under remand) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha set the date on Tuesday after ending the hearing in this regard.

Police arrested Shamim Reza Rubel, a student of Independent University, from Dhaka’s Shiddeswari area in 1998. Latter, he was died at the detectives’ office at Minto Road on July 23 that year.

In the year 1998 Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) filed a writ petition following the incident.  Following the petition, the High Court (HC) ruled upon the government on November 21.

On April 7, 2003, after hearing, the HC gave specific recommendations and 15 point directions to the government including the amendment of the arrest and remand as per the sections 54 and 167.

The then four-party BNP government appealed with the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the HC verdict.

On August 2 in 2003, the Appellate Division accepted the government’s leave to appeal.

Meanwhile, the Appellate Division did not stay the HC’s directions. So, the government filed the appeal on the ground of acceptance of leave to appeal.

Sections 54 (arrest under suspicion) and 167 (interrogation under remand) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1898 empower police to nab any person under suspicion and interrogate any accused on remand.