The cabinet has approved the draft of Bangladesh Coast Guard Act 2014, keeping a provision of capital punishment for any kind of insurgency or indiscipline in the disciplined force.
The approval was given at a regular cabinet meeting held at the secretariat yesterday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The ministers and state ministers concerned were present.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that even though the cabinet had given approval to the draft in principle, a number of secretaries, led by the law minister, would examine loopholes in the proposed law, if any.
After getting approval from the Law Ministry, he said, the draft act would be placed before the cabinet again for final approval.
The cabinet secretary said the government had initiated enacting the law to make the coast guard as a disciplined force as like as Border Guard Bangladesh. The draft of the act was prepared in line with the BGB Act.
There would be a provision of court martial in the law. The provisions of forming the ‘coast guard court’ such as court martial, its trial process and punishments were elaborated in the law.
Earlier, the coast guard was formed under the Coast Guard Act, 1994. The act was incomplete.
Considering the loopholes in the law, the government had decided to enact a complete law such as BGB Act. A ‘rule’ would also be prepared to enforce the new law after its passage in parliament.
Replying to a query, Bhuiyan said there was no provision of specific punishment in the Coast Guard Act. The punishments mentioned in the BGB (previously BDR) Act were applicable for the coast guard officials or forces.
The provisions of punishment for indiscipline, fraudulence and abdication of responsibilities and others were also detailed in the new law.
The cabinet had also approved two drafts of agreements that would be signed between Bangladesh and Cambodia today. The two countries would seal the deals to form a joint commission for promoting bilateral and cultural cooperation.
