People accused of criminal cases from now can surrender before the lower courts across the country for seeking bail in the cases filed against them.
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Saturday asked the Chief Judicial Magistrates (CJM), Chief Metropolitan Magistrates (CMM), Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals and other tribunals across the country to allow those accused of criminal charges to surrender before their courts in connection with the cases filed against them.
The Supreme Court (SC) administration issued a notification, signed by SC Registrar General Md Ali Akbar, to this effect, saying that the accused in criminal cases could surrender to the courts following health guidelines and strictly maintaining physical distancing.
In the notification, it was said that the judges and the magistrates concerned would take necessary action plans for maintaining physical distancing in the courtrooms during the proceedings in order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the lower courts could hear and dispose of only bail petitions filed by the detained accused.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice has constituted nine more benches of the High Court for virtually hearing and disposing of urgent cases as the courts will reopen today (Sunday) after a two-week annual vacation.
With these, a total of 16 benches of the High Court will perform judicial functions virtually, but they cannot hold hearing on anticipatory bail petitions till further notice.
Of the nine benches constituted on Saturday, six are division (two judges) bench and three are single (one judge) bench.
The division benches are of Justice Krishna Debnath and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar Kajol, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice KM Hafizul Alam, Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim, Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Ahmed Sohel, Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil, and of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman. The single benches are of Justice Mahmudul Hoque, Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin.
