Trial possible under existing laws: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the cabinet meeting yesterday that the government would hold the trial of the Tonu murder case under the existing laws of the country, sources said.

Her remarks came just days after Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's comment that the 19-year-old college girl was murdered in a “scientific, modern way”. So crimes like this cannot be investigated and tried under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which was written in 1898, the CJ said on Saturday.

At the cabinet meeting, Hasina sought to know from the law minister and the law secretary if the Tonu killing case could be tried under the existing law. They responded in the affirmative, and the PM said the government would then try the case under the existing laws.

This was the first time that the cabinet discussed the sensational murder of Tonu, a student of Comilla Victoria College, who was found dead in Comilla Cantonment area on the night of March 20.

The meeting also discussed the CJ's comments that lawmakers showed little interest in studying laws and that they did not discuss new laws and constitutional amendments in parliament.  

Later, Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star that Tonu's case was covered by both the Penal Code and the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act.

“Secondly, I want to say in clear terms that people should not talk about a case which is sub-judice and is under investigation. If any responsible person talks about a sub-judice mater, which is under investigation, then the probe is influenced somehow,” he said.