Village court bill placed at JS

The Village Court (Amendment) Bill-2013 was placed in parliament yesterday amidst protest by BNP-led opposition lawmakers.
Piloted by LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, the proposed bill was aimed to simplify judicial proceedings and to ensure smooth and fair operations of village courts, a statement tagged with the bill said.
In absence of Syed Ashraful, his deputy Jahangir Kabir Nanak placed the bill in parliament which was sent to parliamentary standing committee on LGRD ministry giving three-week time for scrutiny.
BNP lawmaker ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan opposed the proposed bill saying, “this [the bill] will increase the scope for corruption and bribery.”
In reply, Nanak said the bill was aimed to reduce backlog of lawsuits.
In the proposed amendment, the bill sought to hike the financial jurisdiction of village court to Tk 75,000 from Tk 25,000.
It also proposed that a revision application against the court's verdict need to be disposed within 30 days of obtainment.
According to the proposed legislature, there will be no review or appeal once any issue is settled down through compromise.
If anyone files case against others without valid reasons and intentionally, he or she will be fined Tk 2,000, it said.