Dhaka: The Cabinet today gave in-principle and final approval to the draft of the Prevention and Remedies for Enforced Disappearance Act, 2026, recognizing enforced disappearance as a distinct criminal offense with provisions for life imprisonment and fines.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Cabinet also approved the draft of the Transfer of Property (Amendment) Act, 2026, allowing donors to retain lifetime use of gifted property, and endorsed a proposal to repeal the Essential Medicines List 2026 and the Drug Pricing Method 2026 for revision in line with legal requirements. These decisions emerged from the 15th Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
The draft law, proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, stipulates life imprisonment and fines for enforced disappearance offenses. Should the disappearance lead to death, if a body is recovered, or if the individual remains untraced for five years, the punishment may escalate to death or life imprisonment, accompanied by a fine of up to Taka one crore.
Enforced disappearance is classified as a distinct, cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable criminal offense within the law, aiming to uphold human rights, dignity, liberty, and the rule of law. The proposed legislation seeks to establish a comprehensive framework for preventing enforced disappearances, prosecuting offenders, tracing disappeared individuals, and ensuring victims' and families' rights, compensation, and rehabilitation.
The draft law includes provisions for court-issued search warrants to rescue disappeared persons, trial in absentia, digital evidence admissibility, and protection for witnesses, complainants, whistle-blowers, and victims. It acknowledges victims' and families' rights to know investigation progress and the fate or whereabouts of disappeared persons, providing for legal aid, medical treatment, rehabilitation, and a compensation fund recoverable from convicted individuals' property or, if impossible, payable by the state.
Additionally, the proposed law allows a disappeared person's spouse and dependents to use the person's property for maintenance and necessary expenses. It also provides for a disappearance certificate issuance after five years to facilitate property distribution among legal heirs, mandates a central database preservation, and includes provisions for international cooperation in disappearance-related cases. The draft mandates investigation and trial completion within a maximum of 120 days each.
The draft Transfer of Property (Amendment) Act, 2026, proposed by the Law and Justice Division, introduces a provision enabling donors to retain lifetime usufruct rights over gifted property, allowing parents or grandparents to transfer property to descendants while retaining legal rights to use and enjoy it during their lifetime.
The meeting also approved repealing the Essential Medicines List 2026 and the Drug Pricing Method 2026, as they were formulated without mandatory National Drug Advisory Council consultation required under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 2023. The Cabinet approved including the Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services in the National Drug Advisory Council.
Despite the repeal, the Essential Medicines List introduced under a 1994 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare order and the existing government drug pricing mechanism will remain effective until an updated list is prepared. The government aims to update the list and ensure future drug prices do not burden consumers while maintaining healthy market competition.