A five-member expert committee was formed to improve and update the draft of Bangladesh Coast Guard Act, 2014, which was approved in principle in the last meeting of the cabinet on June 16 at the secretariat.
Law Minister Anisul Haque will head the committee while Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Senior Secretary to the Home Ministry CQK Mushtaq Ahmed, Defense Secretary Kazi Habibul Awal and Legislative and Parliament Affairs Secretary Shahidul Haque will be its members.
A gazette notification of the Cabinet Division said the committee was formed according to the decision and instruction of the cabinet.
The committee will prepare a final draft of the act accommodating all the observations of the cabinet meeting on June 16 last. They will also amend several provisions of the draft, if needed.
But, the committee was not given a frame to submit its final draft to the Cabinet Division.
Earlier, the cabinet approved the draft of Coast Guard Act, 2014, keeping provision of capital punishment (death sentence) as the maximum punishment for any kind of insurgency or indiscipline in the force.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media: “Though the draft of the act got approval, a number of secretaries will examine the loopholes of the proposed law led by the law minister. The Law Ministry will vet the draft after their approval.
