Cabinet approves draft law imposing death penalty, fine for disrupting civil aviation

Cabinet has approved a draft law imposing death penalty and a fine of Tk 50 million for disrupting civil aviation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the 'Civil Aviation Movement Act 2017' at a cabinet meetingon Monday.

The draft was approved on principle on Feb 29 last year.

The penalties for different crimes related to aviation have been increased in the draft which will now come up for final approval.

The draft is an updated version of the 1960's 'The Civil Aviation Ordinance', Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters after the meeting.

"Any action disrupting smooth operation of air crafts and jeopardising people's lives will be considered a crime," he said.

The penalty for such action is death and a fine of Tk 50 million, said Alam . He clarified that the death sentence was added lately.

Anyone breaching the 'Air Navigation Order' (license for operating aircraft) will be awarded five-year jail term or Tk 10 million fine or both.

The secretary said, for misusing the light signals, which is a serious crime, the penalty is life sentence or fine of Tk 50 million or both.

For carrying dangerous items in flights, the penalty is jail for seven years and a fine of Tk 5 million.

The law defines 'dangerous items' as any object that is hazardous to health, property and environment.

The items flagged by the International Civil Aviation as 'dangerous' fall in this category.

The proposed law imposes seven-year prison term and Tk 5 million fine for entering Bangladesh's airspace illegally, said the secretary.

Some directives of the International Civil Aviation have been incorporated in the draft, he said.