New Ansar draft law keeps provision for punishment for mutiny

A new draft law for the Ansar has kept provision, like that of the BGB, for punishment in case of mutiny. 

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 2 March 2015, 02:52 PM
Updated : 2 March 2015, 02:52 PM

The Cabinet asked to incorporate the punishment for the mutiny when a draft for amending the Battalion Ansar Act, 1995 was presented before it for approval on Monday.

The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Secretariat.

Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting that the Cabinet provisionally approved the amendment bill making two recommendations.

It asked for incorporating the punishment for mutiny in the proposed law, which was not included in the draft.

“Keeping parity with the related clauses of the BGB Act, the provision for punishment for mutiny has been asked to be included in the proposed law so that there is no loophole in it,” the cabinet secretary said.

After the Pilkhana mutiny by border guards in 2009, the law had been amended to incorporate death sentence as the highest punishment for such revolt.

A few people were injured in a mutiny in Ansar in 1994. At that time it was quelled with the help of army.

Ansar has two categories of members. One is Battalion Ansars and another is Embodied Ansars.

Embodied Ansars get a chance to regularise their job after nine years of service.

The Cabinet recommended on Monday that the nine-year duration should now be brought down to six years, Secretary Bhuiyan said.

The draft law also made provision for forced retirement and similar other punishments for a breach of discipline.

Apart from specifying the punishment, the proposed amendment to the law also has made some addition to the list of punishments.

In the amended law, there are provisions for forced retirement, demotion, stalling promotion and salary hike.

A provision has been incorporated to deduct the amount from gratuity if any financial loss was caused due to neglect. 

“All the disciplinary actions entailed in a government job have been incorporated here (draft law),” the cabinet secretary added.