February 15, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 26, 1428

DHAKA, Feb 14: The interim government of Bangladesh on Wednesday amended Emergency Powers Rules, stipulating that any one convicted in any case under the rule in question will not be qualified to contest any elections – parliamentary and local, even if his/her appeal against the conviction is pending.

Such a person will also be disqualified from holding any office in the government, semi-government and statutory bodies or any institutions involved with the government, the amended rule said.

The amended rules also empowered magistrates to order freezing or attachment of movable and immovable properties, cash, security, share certificates or any such belonging of a person, who is accused of being a financial beneficiary of abuse of power or irregularities in the tender process or in a graft case, even before filing of the law suit.

The interim government amended the Emergency Powers Rules, promulgated on Jan 25, on Feb 13. The gazette notification of the amended rules was made available on Wednesday.However, the amended rules do not stipulate the length of time as to for how long a convict would be considered disqualified for contesting polls.

The original rules, framed on Jan 25, said that any order issued under the rules will remain effective as long as the state of emergency exists. But the rules do not mention any minimum punishment for justifying such disqualification.

The Constitution of Bangladesh, however, says that a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than two years, will not be qualified to contest parliamentary elections.

According to the constitutional provision, such disqualification remains effective until a period of five years has elapsed since release of the convict.

The amended rules empower magistrates to order freezing or attachment of movable and immovable properties, cash, security, share certificates or any such belonging of a person, who is accused of being a financial beneficiary of abuse of power or irregularities in the tender process or in a graft case, even before filing of the law suit.

The magistrates will have the power to order freezing or attachment of such properties, be they kept in the name of the accused or in the names of others on behalf of the accused, at any stage of the proceedings drawn against him/her.

The magistrate, however, will have to issue the order before confiscation of the property by the government, say the amended rules.