SANGSAD BHABAN, Sept 12, 2023 (BSS) - The Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Bill, 2023 was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad today aiming to curb land-related forgeries and offenses.
 
Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury moved the bill which was unanimously passed by voice votes in the House with Deputy Speaker Shamsul Huq Tuku in the chair.

Piloting the bill, the minister said the proposed act will ensure justice for the people and elimination of delays in disposal of land related cases.

If a person grabs another's land through forgery, concealing land related information, grabbing lands forcibly and creating fake documents, the respective person will be handed down seven years imprisonment, he said, adding that the minimum punishment is two-year imprisonment.
 
Replying to a question, he said government employees will also be punished for their involvement in forgeries.
 
"The land-related offenses were defined and punitive provisions for these were kept in it so that the citizens can uninterruptedly enjoy the rights including possession on their own lands," he said.
 
Saifuzzaman said the land-related forgeries were specified and steps were taken to prevent, curb the crimes related to public and private lands as well as to ensure remedy to these offenses.
 
"A scope was kept in it [the proposed law] for the disposal of land-related disputes through arbitration alongside the court," said the minister.

Claiming public opinion on behalf of the act, opposition lawmaker Barrister Shamim Haider Patwary said the government has empowered executive magistrate to dispose the land crime prevention under the new act as the system is not appropriate and the government must have to think on the effectiveness of the act.