The government has established two committees-one at the district level and another at the ministry level-to handle cases of politically motivated cases. These committees will recommend the withdrawal of cases filed against political leaders, activists, and individuals that were driven by political vendettas in recent years.
The Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an official notification regarding the formation of these committees on Sunday.
District-Level Committee: Responsibilities and Process
The district-level committee will be led by the district magistrate, with the additional district magistrate serving as the member secretary. Other members will include the superintendent of police (or a deputy commissioner of police in metropolitan areas) and the public prosecutor (or metropolitan public prosecutor for city cases).
Applications seeking withdrawal of politically motivated cases must be submitted to the district magistrate by December 31. Each application should be accompanied by a certified copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and the charge sheet, if applicable.
Upon receiving an application, the district magistrate will forward it to the public prosecutor within seven working days. The public prosecutor is required to provide their opinion within 15 working days. Following this, the district magistrate will present the application, along with the prosecutor’s opinion, to the district committee within seven working days.
If the committee concludes that the case was filed for political or harassment purposes, it will recommend to the government that the case be withdrawn. The district magistrate must then send the committee’s recommendation, along with relevant documents, to the Ministry of Home Affairs within 45 working days, following a specified format.
Ministry-Level Committee: Structure and Role
The ministry-level committee will be chaired by the Adviser to the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs. The committee will include the Senior Secretary, Additional Secretary (Law and Order), Joint Secretary (Law), and a representative from the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs (not below the rank of Joint Secretary). The deputy secretary or senior assistant secretary of the Public Security Division’s Law-1 branch will serve as the member secretary.
This committee will review recommendations received from the district-level committees to identify cases eligible for withdrawal. Once verified, they will take the necessary steps to initiate the withdrawal process.
Special Provisions for Anti-Corruption Commission Cases
Under Section 10(4) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958, politically motivated cases falling under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, cannot be withdrawn without written approval from the commission. A separate list of such cases will be compiled, and decisions regarding their withdrawal will be determined at a later stage, based on further deliberation.
