Bdnews24.com . Dhaka

Parliament has passed a bill to keep the speedy trial act in force for another two years, until April

2014.

The bill, Law and Order Disrupting Crime (Speedy Trial) (Amendment) Act 2012, was passed by the Jatiya Sangsad parliament’s Tuesday session, and it will come into effect from April 8.

This is the fourth extension of the act, formulated in 2002 to effectively tackle mugging, extortion and other crimes that disrupt law and order and create panic, to ensure fast trial of those involved in such crimes.

In 2004, the BNP-led four-party alliance extended its term twice during its tenure, while the incumbent government extended it once in 2010. After the last extension, the act was scheduled to expire in April this

year.

On February 14, the home minister, Sahara Khatun, placed the bill in the house proposing a fourth extension.

The bill said that the act also needed to be extended to complete the trial of 2,269 cases that were currently being investigated and tried under the

act.

Speaker Abdul Hamid sent the bill to the parliamentary standing committee on law ministry for

scrutiny.

The cabinet had on January 16 approved a proposal to amend the act.