Explain legality of CrPC's amended rules: HC

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The High Court on Sunday issued a rule upon the government to explain within three weeks why the amended rules of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) empowering the executive magistrates to perform judicial functions should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury issued the rule upon a petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a human rights organisation.
Earlier in the day, a SC lawyer and the president of HRPB, advocate Manzill Murshid filed the petition as a public interest litigation seeking a direction upon the government to revoke or cancel the amended rules of CrPC.
Talking to The Daily Star, Manzill said the petition challenged the amended CrPC rules, which are against the provisions of the constitution and the principles of the Supreme Court judgement in Masdar Hossain case, popularly known as Judiciary Separation Case.
He said the executive magistrates were empowered to pass orders in the cases through the amendment of the CrPC, which only the judicial magistrates are entitled to do as per the provisions of the constitution and the Supreme Court directives in the judgment of Masdar Hossain case.
“As per sections 145 to 147 of the CrPC, the executive magistrate decides issues of possession, grants ad interim injunction, appoints receiver, restores possessions and grants permanent injunction in the cases until the cases are settled by the courts of the judicial magistrate,” he said, adding that these were the judicial powers.
He also said the secretaries to the cabinet division, the president's secretariat, the Jatiya Sangsad secretariat and the law ministry were made respondents in the petition.