Hasnatul’s remand order
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remand order and sent the accused to the Children’s Court, which sent him to a juvenile correction centre.
Earlier in the day, the HC asked the authorities to strictly follow the provisions of the Children Act in dealing with Hasnatul.
In response to a writ petition, the bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice SM Maniruzzaman asked Additional Attorney General Sk Md Morshed to instruct the authorities, including the Jatrabari Police Station OC, to talk to the parents of Hasnatul in this regard.
Hasnatul’s parents can submit an application with an undertaking and surrender his passport to the authorities so that he can be kept in their custody, said the HC judges.
Additional Attorney General Morshed told the court that Hasnatul will not be placed on remand and will be properly dealt with as a minor. The lower court placed him on remand as the documents in support of his being a minor were not produced before that court at that time, he said.
The HC judges said the arresting authority had to assess the age of Hasnatul during his arrest under the law.
The bench asked Additional Attorney General Morshed what he would do if his minor child had been arrested and placed on remand.
Morshed said relevant provisions of the Children Act will be strictly followed in treating Hasnatul and if his parents submit any application, it will be considered in accordance with the law.
The HC bench cited a photo of Hasnatul published on The Daily Star yesterday.
The photo captioned that “Hasnatul Islam Faiyaz, a first-year HSC student of Dhaka College, is tied with ropes as cops take him back to jail on a seven-day remand after he was produced before the CMM Court in the capital. Hasnatul was picked up from his Jatrabari home on Wednesday night in connection with a case filed over recent violence.”
Yesterday, the HC bench also fixed today for further hearing of the petition filed as a public interest litigation by Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik challenging the legality of the lower court order that placed Hasnatul on remand.
Petitioner’s lawyer Md Monjur Alam told this newspaper that under the Children Act, 2013, no child can be tied with rope, put on handcuffs and placed on remand.
The children cannot be sent to jail and kept with adult prisoners, he said, adding that the accused children have to be sent to juvenile correction centres.
Meanwhile, a law ministry press release yesterday said the Children’s Court in Dhaka cancelled the remand of Hasnatul as a child and ordered the authorities to send him to a juvenile correction centre.
On July 27, Hasnatul was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Court of Dhaka, and the court placed him on a seven-day remand as the investigating officer of the case had sought.
Though the accused claimed that he is a child, the court granted the remand prayer as he failed to produce proof of his age.
Yesterday, accused Hasnatul submitted the relevant documents (SSC and birth certificates) in support of his age before the CMM court.
The court suspended his remand and sent the accused to the Children’s Court for hearing and passing order determining his age.
After yesterday’s hearing, the Children’s Court ordered the authorities to send Hasnatul to a juvenile correction centre.