The committee recommended preparing the final report on the bill to place it in the House.

The recommendation came at the 11th meeting of the parliamentary watchdog held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with its chairman Abdul Matin Khasru MP in the chair, said a handout. 

At the meeting, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ansiul Huq explained the necessity of the bill against the backdrop of the unusual situation arising out of the coronavirus in the country as well as examples of similar laws used in other countries.

Committee members Mostafizur Rahman, Md. Abdul Majid Khan, Md. Shahiduzzaman Sarker, Shameem Haider Patwary and Gloria Jharna Sarker attended the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Secretary Naren Das, Law and Justice Secretary Md Golam Sarwar and Registrar General of the Supreme Court Md Ali Akbar and other high officials were present at the meeting.  

The Bill was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday last to empower courts to run trial proceedings through videoconferences and other digital means using the information technology.

The House sent the bill to the parliamentary committee for further scrutiny asking it to submit its report within five days.

This law has already been promulgated by the President to empower courts to run trial proceedings virtually using IT following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the previous law, the trial proceedings have to be run in the physical presence of judges, counsels and witnesses in the court.