The High Court has issued a rule asking why the records of individuals convicted in criminal cases have not yet been digitalised.
On Sunday, 9 August, a High Court bench comprising Justice Ahmed Sohel and Fatema Anwar issued the rule following the hearing of a writ petition.
The home secretary, law secretary, and other relevant respondents have been directed to reply to the rule within four weeks.
Advocate Fahmida Akhter, who represented the petitioner in court, told journalists that because the number of crimes in the country is increasing day by day, an online database should be created to make the records of convicted individuals publicly available.
She added that with such a database, criminals would think twice before offending due to the fear of social criticism, ostracism, and isolation from society, which would ultimately reduce the number of crimes.
She further said that while the country has numerous laws prescribing harsh punishments after an offence is committed, as well as guidelines outlining which laws to file cases under, there are no preventive measures.
“We still do not have that infrastructure,” Fahmida said. “If we want to employ someone or keep someone in our homes, we do not have any verification process to learn about them or check their background,” she added.
She also said the creation of such an online database would protect the constitutional rights of citizens. It was against this backdrop that she personally filed the writ petition in the High Court, which issued the rule following the hearing.
