Indemnity Act, Bangladesh

The Indemnity Act of Bangladesh was formulated to give immunity from legal action to the persons involved in the assassination of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The assassination took place on August 15, 1975^[1] As the parliament was not in session, the Act was promulgated on September 26, 1975, in the form of an Ordinance by president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, a close political associate of Sheikh Mujib and a cabinet Minister, who was made the president of the country following the killing of Sheikh Mujib. It was titled Indemnity Ordinance 1975, being Ordinance No. 50 of 1975. Later it was ratified by the Bangladesh Parliament in due course, when the parliament was constituted in 1979, and became an Act, that is, a formal statute, following the ratification. By dint of the 5th amendment to the constitution brought about on July 9, 1979, the Indeminity Act became enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh. After Awami League formed government with Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Parliament scrapped the Indemnity Act on November 12, 1996.^[2] This paved the way for the trial of the killers Sheikh Mujib. In February, 2010 the 5th amendment to the constitution was declared illegal by the High Court of Bangladesh.^[3]

Reading

Bangladesh Code – a compilation of prevailing laws in Bangladesh, published by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, November, 2007.^[4]

References