No decision yet on section 57

The government will clarify its position on the controversial section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act while placing the proposed Digital Security Act before the parliament, Law Minister Anisul Huq said yesterday.

He told reporters about the decisions after a meeting on the draft of Digital Security Act at the secretariat, attended by ministers and officials of different ministries and government agencies.

Anisul Huq, after a meeting in July on the same issue, had said they would decide about section 57 the following month (August) while finalising the draft of the Digital Security Act.

“We have discussed the proposed Digital Security Act. We will incorporate a summary of the meeting in the draft and will sit in a meeting in August. We will take the final decision in that meeting. You [journalists] can then know about our decision on section 57," he had said on July 9.

But, yesterday the law minister said they are “fine tuning” the proposed act so that the law can serve the purpose the government is enacting it for.

Replying to a query on section 57, the minister said “That [section 57] is also related with it [Digital Security Act]. So when we place Digital Security Act, then you [journalists] will see how we address section 57 of ICT Act, include other laws into it [Digital Security Act] and solve all problems.”

The cabinet approved a draft of the law in August last year. The prime minister then directed the law ministry to scrutinise the draft to avoid any repetition, contradictory provision or inadequacy.

Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu, who also attended the meeting, along with Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT Division, Rab and police, yesterday said they have scrutinised the draft of Digital Security Act so that they can place it before the parliament in the next winter session.

However, the meeting was adjourned until November 29 and it is hoped that the draft will be finalised on that day before being placed before the cabinet, Inu said.

Meanwhile, a committee has been formed to scrutinise whether there were any conflicting areas between the drafts of the Digital Security Act and National Broadcast Act, a source said.

Led by Mohammad Shahidul Haque, senior secretary of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Ministry of Law, the committee was asked to give their report on November 26, the source said.

Organisations of journalists and human rights activists have been demanding for a repeal of the section saying that it goes against the people's right to freedom of expression and free speech as it contains vague wording, allowing its misuse against newsmen and social media users.

In July, journalists started street protests to press home their demand as more than two dozen journalists have been sued since March this year.  Some 300 cases were lodged under the section in the first seven months of this year.

Amid growing demand, the law minister on several occasions said the section would be scrapped.

But cases filed under the section are piling up as the government remains "undecided" about what to do with the controversial section.

At least three people, including a journalist, have been sued under the section in the first week of the month after a brief pause in the flow of filing such cases following severe criticism and protest against the section.