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Published : 10 Dec 2025, 01:38 PM
The Bangladesh government has published a gazette to form a Police Commission, but limiting its activities to providing different recommendations and advice, and holding public awareness seminars and symposiums.
The Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs published the gazette on Tuesday, announcing the formation of a five-strong commission headed by a retired judge.
The rest of the commission should be comprised of two former bureaucrats, a professor, and an experienced human rights activist. The proposal also says at least two women should be on the panel.
The proposal was approved by the Advisory Council on Dec 4. Before that, on Nov 29, the Advisory Council had returned an earlier draft of the “Police Commission Ordinance" and gave directions to present it in a detailed and amended form at their next meeting.
BNP raised objections against the ordinance even before it was presented to the Advisory Council.
On Nov 28, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “We have learnt from reliable sources that the current interim government is trying to pass two laws in a hurry. One is the amended Police Commission Act, and the other is a law related to NGOs.
"We believe that the government has some ulterior motive behind passing such a law before the elections, which will hinder the path to a democratic transition."
“It won’t be proper to pass such a law on an important issue hurriedly without the people’s mandate,” the BNP statement said.
"We think it would be proper to introduce these two laws through debate in the next National Parliament."
After the fall of the Awami League government on Aug 5, 2024 in the face of a mass uprising, the interim that came to power then took initiatives to reform different parts of the state, including police.
COMMISSION LIMITED TO RECOMMENDATIONS
The ordinance contains a long list of what the commission can recommend.
It is noted that the commission will be able to make recommendations to bring about efficiency and excellence in police activities, establish discipline, transparency and accountability, starting from the appointment of the IGP. The commission will recommend to the government a panel of three officers of the rank of additional IGP with eligibility for the appointment of IGP.
The commission will also investigate and resolve citizens’ complaints against police and resolve grievances of police personnel and make recommendations. The ordinance calls for the formation of separate Citizen Complaints Management Committees and Police Grievance Redressal Committees. These two committees can also take measures themselves after receiving information from the media or other sources.
The ordinance also provides internship opportunities for law, criminology, and police science students at the commission.
