The cabinet on Sunday approved the draft of the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Act 2020, incorporating the ordinance promulgated by the President a few days ago to add the death penalty for rape.
“The draft of the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Act 2020, which was issued in the form of an ordinance on October 14 was approved. Now, it will be placed before the House during the next special session of parliament,” Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told journalists at his regular briefing after the weekly cabinet meeting.
The premier joined the meeting virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban, while cabinet members were connected from the Bangladesh Secretariat through video conferencing.
The cabinet secretary said: “This [the approval of the draft act] is mainly done to protect the rules and regulations. If a law is issued in the form of an ordinance, it has to be raised in the form of a bill in the next session of parliament. As part of this, the draft law was approved.”
On Mujib Barsho, the special session of parliament will be held on November 8, a source at the parliament said, adding that the session will be prorogued with the passage of a resolution on the political life of Bangabandhu.
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In the draft law, the punishment provisions and other penalties for the rapists remain the same as those in the ordinance, but soon after the passage of the law the ordinance will be null and void, Khandaker said in response to a question from reporters at the press briefing.
The cabinet secretary said the cabinet also approved the revised draft of the president’s address to the special session of the 11th parliament on the Mujib Year, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
President M Abdul Hamid, in his speech before the House, would highlight the life and works of Bangabandhu, the government’s successful steps tackling the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and some other outstanding achievements in the last few years under the farsighted leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Khandaker added.
The cabinet was also informed about the active participation of the Bangladesh delegation led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the 75th United Nations General Assembly.
Apart from this, the cabinet discussed the overall Covid-19 situation and the government’s precautionary measures in this regard, as well as major headway in the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge Project.
The cabinet secretary said the 34th span of the Padma Bridge was installed on Sunday, bringing a total of over 5.1 kilometers of the structure into view.
