The interim government on Sunday announced the formation of two committees for withdrawing false and manipulated lawsuits filed by vested quarters to meet their malign political interests.
The two committees would be formed at the district and ministerial level, with the former recommending case withdrawals to the latter upon completion of necessary investigation, said a circular issued by the home ministry.
Aggrieved parties or individuals have to submit their applications seeking case withdrawals before 31 December, and after receiving the pleas, the district level committee would have to complete investigation within 45 days.
The home ministry committee would receive a short list of the cases deemed withdrawable by the district level committee and conduct further scrutiny, before finally starting the process to cancel the meritless cases.
However, the meritless cases filed under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 cannot be withdrawn without an order issued by the anti-graft agency, and thus procedures for these cases would be decided at a later time, Sunday's circular read.
To begin the withdrawal process, the district magistrate, as the head of his/her respective district-level committee, would receive applications from false individuals and then seek opinion from a public prosecutor. The district-level committee would weigh the public prosecutor’s opinion, first information report and charge sheet before making recommendations on withdrawing cases.
The home ministry committee would seek to further trim down the list of recommendations through scrutiny.
