Cantonment Area: Lawbreakers to face stricter punishment

The cabinet yesterday gave the final approval to the draft of “The Cantonments Act-2017” that proposed increasing the fines and punishments manifold for violating the law.

The draft was prepared bringing changes to the existing Cantonments Act-1924 to keep up with the times, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting at the Secretariat.

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He said fines for 43 offences, including violation of traffic law, begging, continuing the construction of a building beyond the deadline, carrying arms and exploding firecrackers in the Cantonment Board areas, were increased substantially in the draft law as the amounts of the fines in the 93-year-old law were very small.

As per the proposed law, Shafiul said, drunkenness, begging, gambling, movement by keeping one's injury marks open, carrying meat openly, and urinating and defecating in the open would be considered as punishable offences and the offenders would be fined up to Tk 20,000.

Besides, anyone driving a vehicle on the wrong side and violating traffic rules would be fined Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000.

Under the existing law, the maximum fine for the aforesaid offences is Tk 50.

Shafiul said the draft law seeks to impose a maximum fine of Tk 10,000 for digging roads in the cantonment areas. For illegal construction of any establishment, the fine would be Tk 20,000 to Tk 50,000.

Currently, such offences are punishable with a fine of Tk 100.

Anyone seeking more than three extensions of deadlines for constructing a building would have to pay a fine of Tk 20,000. For more than five extensions, the fine would go up to Tk 50,000.

Under a provision of the proposed law, a lawbreaker would be fined Tk 3,000 to Tk 10,000 for obstructing any government work.

Replying to a question from a journalist, the cabinet secretary said the authorities concerned would jail an offender if he fails to pay the fine.

The cabinet also approved a proposal for ratification of “The Agreement between the Republic of San Marino and Bangladesh on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” between the two countries.