DHAKA: The High Court on Thursday ordered for going back to the provision of 7 year jail for road crash convict annulling the Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code amendment-1985 that reduced penalty to 3 year imprisonment.

An HC bench comprising Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice M Khasruzzaman passed the order.

Advocate Manzil Murshid told banglanews that the road crash convicts have to serve seven years in jail henceforth.

On October 10, 1985, HM Ershad's regime amended Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Penal Code, reducing the prison term to three years from seven.

On January 4, 2011, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the writ petition seeking HC directive on the government to cancel the amendments to CrPC and Penal Code.

Following the petition, later on that day, HC issued a rule upon the government to explain within three weeks why reducing punishment for wild driving should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.

BDST: 1317 HRS, NOV 20, 2014