Field Administration: Into quizzical hibernation
As eight underage girls were about to be married off in Dinajpur's Chirirbandar upazila on Friday, locals sought help from the upazila administration to stop the marriages.
But the administration didn't respond to their call, alleged a number of locals.
Asked, Chirirbandar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Golam Rabbani claimed he could do nothing about it, as they were unable to run mobile courts to stop the child marriages following the High Court verdict declaring illegal the operation of mobile courts by executive magistrates.
In Natore's Gurudaspur, the upazila administration also had information that child marriages were taking place in the area.
Monir Hossain, UNO of Gurudaspur, said at least four child marriages took place in the upazila in three days till Saturday. But he couldn't take any action for not having the power to run a mobile court.
In Narayanganj's Fatullah area, an underage girl was married off on Sunday. Locals protested the marriage and sought help from the Sadar upazila administration.
But the administration refused to act, saying it didn't have the power to run a mobile court to stop the marriage, alleged some locals.
Contacted, Tasneem Jebin Binte Sheikh, UNO of Narayanganj sadar upazila, said she got phone calls from locals but it wasn't possible for her to run a mobile court to prevent the marriage following the HC verdict.
However, the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 makes it mandatory for the local administration to take action to stop child marriage. The minimum age for marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
According to Section-4 of the act, upon receiving information that a child marriage is taking place, the UNO, women affairs officers, social welfare officers and education officers, among other officials in the upazila, have to act to stop the marriage.
Eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik said enforcement of the section to prevent child marriage is an administrative function.
“Operating mobile courts is judicial function … the sooner we realise that trial and punishment is the domain of the judiciary only, the faster we will develop as a nation."
Rights activist Sultana Kamal didn't subscribe to the reasons mentioned by administrative officials for not being able to stop child marriages.
Any bonafide citizen is entitled to stop anything illegal happening, she said.
The deputy commissioners of both Dinajpur and Natore also cited the same grounds for not taking action to stop child marriages.
In a letter to the Cabinet Division, Natore DC Shahina Khatun said they heard about 12 incidents of child marriage, but they were unable to take action to stop those.
"It's not possible to stop child marriage without being able to run mobile courts."
She said the executive magistrates were not running mobile courts after the HC judgment.
Dinajpur DC Mir Khairul Alam said the local administration was facing problems in applying law in the absence of mobile courts. He communicated it to the Cabinet Division.
Talking to this newspaper, several deputy commissioners have claimed that they now find it difficult to run the local administration, as executive magistrates without judicial powers are unable to try wrongdoers on the spot through mobile courts.
A week ago, the High Court declared illegal and unconstitutional the operation of mobile courts by executive magistrates, who had been exercising the judicial powers since 2007 even after the separation of the judiciary from the executive. Mobile courts can be run only by judicial magistrates, it said.
Some DCs have already written to the Cabinet Division, claiming that they have been facing difficulties in taking action against food adulteration, eve teasing, child marriage and some other wrongdoings after the HC verdict.
"Criminal activities have been on the rise in the district as the executive magistrates stopped holding trial of offenders on the spot after the court's [HC] verdict," said the Natore DC in a letter to the Cabinet Division recently.
She said Natore UNOs informed her that it wouldn't be possible for them to maintain law and order and implement the government decisions in the prevailing situation.
In the letter, she also mentioned that incidence of child marriage rose in the district as the administration couldn't run mobile courts.
The Daily Star has obtained a copy of the letter sent to the Cabinet Division on May 13.
Contacted, Pabna DC Rekha Rani Balo said she informed the Cabinet Division about the difficulties the local administration was facing after the HC verdict.
Asked, Maksudur Rahman Patwary, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, said field-level administrative officials informed them of their difficulties after the HC verdict.
"We have instructed the field-level administration to act in line with the court verdict."
Maksudur said mobile courts run by executive magistrates had achieved a huge success since 2009. The courts disposed of more than eight lakh cases, and people immensely benefited from that.
Until the separation of the judiciary from the executive in November 2007, administrative officials used to exercise both judicial and executive powers. But they lost the judicial powers after the separation of the judiciary.
Irked by the separation of the judiciary from the executive in November 2007, administrative officials staged a showdown in the capital and demanded their judicial powers remain untouched. They forced the then caretaker government to give some judicial powers to them.
The then president promulgated an ordinance empowering executive magistrates to run mobile courts to maintain law and order. They were allowed only to fine individuals for an offence.
Assuming office in early January 2009, the Awami League-led government offered more powers to administrative officers. It empowered executive magistrates to sentence offenders to up to two years' imprisonment in addition to their earlier powers to impose fines.
In response to three writ petitions, the HC on May 11 declared unconstitutional the running of mobile courts by executive magistrates.
On Sunday, the government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the HC verdict.
SC Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique stayed the HC verdict till today. He sent the petition to the full bench which is expected to hold hearing on it today.
[Our correspondents from Natore, Dinajpur, Pabna and Narayanganj contributed to this report]
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