High Court seeks online database of convicted persons’ records

The High Court has issued a rule seeking to know why the relevant authorities should not be directed to create an online database to make the past records of people convicted of criminal offenses easily accessible to the public.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Secretary of the Ministry of Information and the Chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) have been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks.

The High Court bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Fatema Anowar issued the order on Sunday after hearing a writ petition filed in the public interest.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Fahmida Akhter filed the writ petition on July 30. She appeared for the hearing herself on Sunday.

Lawyer Fahmida told Agamir Somoy, “The number of crimes and the scope of crime in our country are increasing day by day. That is why I said that if we have such an online database, which will remain under the control of a competent authority, then if any offender has been convicted of a criminal offense, his record should be available on that online database for public access.”

She further said that if these records are available to citizens, their constitutional rights will be secured. This is because they will be able to conduct a background check on a person before appointing anyone as an employee. She believes this will also reduce the number of crimes to a significant extent. When the record is publicly available, it will create fear in the mind of an offender that if they commit the crime and are convicted, it will no longer remain secret.