None can be punished twice for same offence: DAG Saju

As the Constitution of Bangladesh has guaranteed fundamental rights of the citizens, no one can be prosecuted or punished twice for the same crime, said Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain Saju.

Fundamental rights are enumerated in Part-III of the Constitution ranging from Articles 27 to 43, he said, adding that the state counsels and other lawyers concerned follow the constitutional guidelines.

In an interview, he said “We, the state and other lawyers entrusted with dealing cases, discharge responsibilities following the principles of the Constitution.”

Referring to Article 35 which provides for protection in respect of trial and punishment, he said an offender has to be tried under a law which was in force at the time of commission of the offence and s/he cannot be tried twice for single offence.

Article 35 (1) says “No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than, or different from, that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.”

Besides, Article (2) states “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.”

Motahar Hossain Saju, a criminal law expert, made the above statements as many people are being accused in and harassed by multiple cases arising out of single incident or offence.

The criminal laws will have no retrospective and prospective application, said Motahar Hossain.

Citing example, he said “Suppose, a person was accused in a case filed under the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act 1995 which provided for death sentence. Later, the government amended the law commuting punishment. The accused in question will be subjected to the death sentence. Similarly, if a person is accused in a law which provided for 10 years of imprisonment and subsequent amendment to the law hiked punishment to death sentence, s/he will be liable to face the highest 10 years of imprisonment.”

If the above principle of law is violated in case of any accused, s/he will get legal redress, he opined.

About Article 35 (2) of the Constitution, he said a person can be made accused, prosecuted or convicted for an offence once.

“Sometimes, we see a person being sued or prosecuted for the second time for an incident. Law enforcing agencies are also seen to arrest such accused. If the court’s notice is drawn to such harassment of the accused, the judge concerned verifies it. The court clears way for continuation of the first case and dismisses the second one provided that allegation of harassment is found to be true.”