23,865 politically motivated cases withdrawn so far: Law Minister

A total of 23,865 politically motivated harassment cases have been withdrawn so far, said Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman at a session of the Parliament on Wednesday.

He also said that, according to information from the BNP central office, a total of 1,42,983 harassment cases were filed against BNP leaders and activists from 2007 to 11 January 2025.

On Wednesday, the minister provided this information in a written response to a question from Member of Parliament Md Abdul Mannan during a session of the National Parliament. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed presided over the session.

The Law Minister said that the government does not officially maintain statistics on how many harassment or false cases are filed against leaders and activists of any political party. There is no specific data available with the government on the total number of cases filed against BNP leaders and activists. However, based on information received from the BNP central office, a total of 142,983 false and harassment cases were filed against BNP leaders and activist between 2007 and January 11, 2025.

He said that after the current government assumed office, on 5 March, a four-member committee was reconstituted at the district level, headed by the District Magistrate, to recommend the withdrawal of politically motivated harassment cases. The committee reviews applications for case withdrawal, FIRs, certified copies of charge sheets (where applicable), and opinions of public prosecutors. If it is determined that a case was filed for political harassment, does not serve public interest, and continuing it would harm the state, the committee recommends its withdrawal to the government.

The minister further said that to examine the recommendations received from district committees and take action on case withdrawals, a six-member ‘central committee’ was formed on March 8, 2026, with the Law Minister as its convener. This central committee makes the final decisions regarding case withdrawals.

So far, a total of 23,865 politically motivated harassment cases have been withdrawn. The process of withdrawing the remaining such cases is ongoing.