22 drug tribunals formed across country
The government has formed 22 ‘Drug Offences Suppression Tribunals’ in various districts and metropolitan areas, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Cumilla, to expedite the trial of drug-related offences.
The Ministry of Law announced this in a gazette notification. The notification was published in an extraordinary issue of the Bangladesh Gazette on Thursday night.
Exercising powers under Section 44A of the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, the government formed the tribunals and set separate territorial jurisdictions and boundaries for each of them.
Newly formed tribunals and their jurisdictions: According to the notification, one tribunal has been formed for Dhaka district and four separate tribunals for police stations under Dhaka Metropolitan area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Tribunal-1 will cover Pallabi, Kafrul, Mirpur, Shah Ali, Darus Salam, Rupnagar, Bhashantek, Tejgaon, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Hatirjheel, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Ramna and Shahbagh police stations.
Dhaka Metropolitan Tribunal-2 will cover Kalabagan, Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh, New Market, Adabar, Kotwali, Bangshal, Chawkbazar, Lalbagh, Kamrangirchar and Mohammadpur police stations.
Dhaka Metropolitan Tribunal-3 will have jurisdiction over Motijheel, Shahjahanpur, Paltan, Sabujbagh, Khilgaon, Mugda, Rampura, Demra, Shyampur, Sutrapur, Gandaria, Jatrabari, Kadamtali and Wari police stations.
Dhaka Metropolitan Tribunal-4 will cover Uttara East, Uttara West, Uttarkhan, Dakshinkhan, Airport, Turag, Badda, Gulshan, Banani, Bhatara, Cantonment and Khilkhet police stations.
Two tribunals-Narayanganj-1 and Narayanganj-2-have been formed for Narayanganj, while one tribunal has been formed for Chattogram district and three-Chattogram Metropolitan-1, 2 and 3-for Chattogram Metropolitan area.
Three tribunals have been designated for Cox’s Bazar, a drug-prone border district. Cox’s Bazar-1 will cover Teknaf, Kutubdia and Maheshkhali police stations. Cox’s Bazar-2 will cover Ukhia, Sadar and Eidgaon police stations. Cox’s Bazar-3 will cover Ramu, Chakaria, Pekua and Matamuhuri police stations.
In addition, two tribunals-Cumilla-1 and Cumilla-2-have been formed for Cumilla, while one tribunal each has been formed for Brahmanbaria, Rajshahi district, Rajshahi Metropolitan area, Bogura, Dinajpur and Jashore districts.
The notification further said that within 60 days of its issuance, pending cases involving offences punishable by at least five years’ imprisonment under the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, will be transferred from the existing courts to the newly formed tribunals in accordance with the relevant laws and rules.
The trials of transferred cases will continue from the stage at which they were transferred. The notification said the decision would take effect immediately.
