Evidence Act: Both sections questioning victims will be amended

Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said the government will amend both the relevant sections of the Evidence Act in order to block all avenues of questioning the character of rape victims in court.

"We have already finished the work to amend sections 155(4) and 146(3) of the Evidence Act, 1872. The proposed amendments will be placed before the next cabinet meeting, and I hope a bill will be passed in the next parliament session," he told The Daily Star.

In the proposed amendments, section 155(4) will be repealed and a proviso will be incorporated into section 146(3) so that none can question the characters of the witnesses, including the rape victims, in court, he said.

The draft recently submitted to the High Court, proposing to amend only section 155(4), was not "final or effective", he added.

Contacted, Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna, also an eminent rights activist, said he was satisfied with the government's move to stop all scopes for questioning a rape victim's character.

"I must congratulate and appreciate Law Minister Anisul Huq for his sincerity in taking steps to amend sections 155(4) and 146(3) of the Evidence Act. Such provisions formulated during the British period against the prestige and dignity of women cannot be in effect in Bangladesh ...."

Panna, a trustee member of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and former chairperson of Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), said the government can issue a circular, urging courts to stop the use of 155(4) and 146(3) for a temporary period before the parliament passes the bill on the amendments.

According to section 155(4), "When a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix was of generally immoral character.

"Explanation: A witness declaring another witness to be unworthy of credit may not, upon his examination-in-chief, give reasons for his belief, but he may be asked his reasons in cross-examination, and the answers which he gives cannot be contradicted, though, if they are false, he may afterwards be charged with giving false evidence."

Section 146(3) allows the imposition of questions that may injure the character of the witness in order to verify their credibility.

According to it, "When a witness is cross-examined, he may, in addition to the questions hereinbefore referred to, be asked any questions which tend –to shake his credit, by injuring his character, although the answer to such questions might tend directly or indirectly to criminate him or might expose or tend directly or indirectly to expose him to a penalty or forfeiture."

The government on February 17 submitted a draft proposal for the amendment of only section 155(4) to the HC through the attorney general's office in compliance with its November 16 directive.

On February 20, the HC fixed February 22 for hearing the writ petition by BLAST, ASK and Nari Pakkho seeking the cancellation of both sections.