655 Judicial Magistrates to take to the field today

The Election Commission (EC) has appointed 655 Judicial Magistrates across the country to try election offences in a free, fair and peaceful manner. The judges appointed as First Class Magistrates will serve for a total of 5 days from today, Tuesday (February 10) to February 14. This information was given in a notification signed by Deputy Secretary (Law) of the Election Commission Secretariat Mohammad Didar Hossain.
The notification states that the appointed magistrates will serve for a total of 5 days from February 10 to February 14. They will serve as First Class Magistrates for two days before polling, on polling day and two days after polling. Regarding legal jurisdiction, the notification states that they were appointed on February 5 under the powers conferred by Section 89A of the Representation of the People Order, 1972 (P.O. No. 155 of 1972).
In consultation with the Law and Justice Department and the Supreme Court, these officers of the Judiciary Department have been given the powers of Magistrates of the First Class. They will basically conduct summary trials of various scheduled offences including obstruction of voting, occupation of polling stations, creating disorder and other offences under Section 190 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

The notification contains several instructions:
The notification issued by the Election Commission Secretariat has given several specific instructions for the appointed Magistrates. These are-

1. The appointed Magistrates will have to join the concerned constituency on Tuesday morning, February 10. A copy of the joining letter will be sent to the Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat.
2. If any election offence is considered for trial during the discharge of their duties, it will be disposed of expeditiously in a ‘summary trial’ or summary manner. The result of the trial or disposal statement will be sent to the Law Wing of the Election Commission Secretariat within the next 72 hours in the prescribed format.
3. To facilitate the conduct of judicial proceedings, each magistrate can take a bench assistant, stenographer or office assistant as a support staff. The judges of the concerned districts have been requested to provide necessary assistance in this regard.
4. The concerned District Administrators will provide necessary vehicles including jeeps, microbuses or speedboats to the magistrates to perform their duties as per their requirements.
5. The Police Commissioner, Superintendent of Police or officers in charge of the local police station have been instructed to deploy the necessary ‘striking force’ for the security of the judges and the proper discharge of their duties.
The notification states that one or more judicial magistrates will be deployed in each parliamentary constituency in a total of 300 constituencies – starting from Panchagarh-1 constituency to Bandarban – to maintain electoral law and order.