Digital Security Act: Legal notice seeks proper amendments

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday served a legal notice on the authorities concerned for proper amendments to nine sections of the much-debated Digital Security Act.

SM Zulfikar Ali Zunu issued the notice to the information minister, the law minister, the secretaries to the ministries and the cabinet secretary through registered mails, UNB reports.

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In the notice, the lawyer asked the respondents to take immediate steps for bringing proper amendments to sections 8, 21, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 43 and 53 of the act within 30 days. Otherwise, a writ petition would be filed with the High Court, he said.

The move came a day after editors of the country's leading newspapers formed a human chain in the capital's Jatiya Press Club to press for proper amendments to the sections.

At the programme, the Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council), a platform of editors, demanded that the proposed changes be made in the upcoming and last session of the current parliament, scheduled to begin on October 21.

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Meanwhile, Supreme Court Bar Association yesterday also demanded bringing the amendments in the parliament session.

At a press conference at the SCBA auditorium, Zainul Abedin, president of the platform, offered legal assistance to the Parishad.

Amid widespread criticism, President Abdul Hamid signed the Digital Security Bill into law on October 8.

Termed draconian at home and abroad, the bill was passed in parliament on September 19, ignoring concerns of journalists and rights defenders and keeping a harsh provision that allows police officials to search or arrest anyone without a warrant.

Some of the sections in question deal with concerns like giving arbitrary power to law enforcement agencies to confiscate media content, vagueness in the definition of “Spirit of the Liberation War”, shrinking scope for investigative journalism, and limiting scope to write against socio-religious harmful elements such as unlawful fatwa.