Topic summary

Indemnity Ordinance, 1975

Indemnity Ordinance, 1975

The Indemnity Ordinance, 1975 was a controversial law enacted by the martial law administration of Bangladesh on 26 September 1975. It provided legal immunity to all persons involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed with most of his family on 15 August 1975. Immunity meant the assassins were immune from any legal action. The surviving family members of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were unable to file a murder case against the assassins due to this law.

The ordinance was converted into an Act of Parliament by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on 9 July 1979 through the Indemnity Act, 1979. When the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib's surviving daughter Sheikh Hasina was elected to power in 1996, the law was repealed through the Indemnity (Repeal) Act, 1996.