Earlier, jail officials would release prisoners after making a call to the authorities concerned on whether they had secured bail from the courts or not.
But now there would be no need to make such calls as the software would automatically confirm the status of the accused after their names and case numbers are put into the software.
SC registrar general Syed Md Amirul Islam said the bail confirmation software has been set up as per the chief justice’s directive.
“We’re going ahead with digitisation of the judiciary, which will help us to make the system more transparent,” he added.
Sources said a High Court (HC) official is currently checking the bail confirmation software. After receiving the bail-related files from the HC, the official downloads the bail confirmation file into the
software.
The software then automatically creates a reference number, user name and password for the litigant. Next, the official concerned sends the bail confirmation letter to the trial court, which seeks the status of the litigant after putting the user name and password into the bail
confirmation software.
Parvez Anwar, system analyst of the SC’s ICT department, said that the apex court authorities have developed the software to make judicial activities more transparent, reduce the suffering of litigants as well as prevent bail forgery.
Anwar said before installation of the software, the HC authorities used to send a bail confirmation letter to the trial court, which then gave the bail bond.
In some cases, trial court officials used to call higher authorities to confirm that an accused had got bail. But now every accused can check their status after putting their name and case number in the software, he added.
The SC’s administrative department formed a committee, led by special officer of the HC district judge Hosne Ara Aktar, to look after the activities of the software.
Supreme Court lawyer Shah Monjurul Hoque said, “I think this is an innovative initiative to reduce the litigants’ suffering. Now, no one would be able to mislead the authorities concerned over bail if the software is used properly.”
“Earlier, some accused persons had to stay in jail even after securing bail from the HC, as the authorities had to complete a long process to confirm their release. But now, the system will save time and the appellant will be released from jail soon after securing bail from the courts,” he added.
Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, said the new software would help the judiciary as well as litigants. No one would be able to walk out from the jail by misusing the higher court order following the installation of the software, he added.
