Special Powers Act, 1974 is an Act of parliament in Bangladesh. The law allows the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

to detain people indefinitely without bringing any formal charges against them.

History

The act was passed in 1974 to replace the Security Act of Pakistan 1952, the Public Safety Ordinance of 1958 and the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972. The law targets smuggling, hoarding, and damaging actions. The law allows the government to detain individuals on preventive ground.

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

dominated Bangladesh Parliament passed the law on 9 February 1974. The Awami League was criticised for passing the law. The law was opposed by

Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman Khan (; 6 March 1905 – 7 December 1991) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, who served as the Chief Minister of East Pakistan, chief minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the prime mi ...

and Abdus Sattar. Individuals can be detained up to six months without being charged and indefinitely if endorsed by the advisory board.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

maintained it when they came to power despite promising to remove it in their election manifesto.

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

called for its removal but after becoming Prime Minister called it useful. In 1990, section 16(2) of the act was repealed through an amendment but the police were filing cases under the section into 2018. The High Court Division ordered the police to stop using the section since it was removed through an act of parliament. In December 2020, Bangladesh Police charged four persons under the act for vandalizing a statue of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

. In 2022, the government was asked to use the act to take action against food hoarding by traders.

Criticism

In 2022,

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The origin of the party can be traced back to the original faction founded by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi in 1941. The predecessor of Jamaat which is known as Ja ...

has called for the repeal of the Special Powers Act, along with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, and the Digital Security Act, 2018. The

has also demanded for the removal of the law. An editorial in '' the Daily Star'' described the act as "draconian", used by governments to harass their political opponents.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

has similarly urged the government to repeal the law, citing serious human right concerns.

References

{{Reflist Law of Bangladesh Censorship in Bangladesh Freedom of the press 1974 in law Mujib era