Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court Dhaka: Jurisdiction, Powers and Cases (2026)

CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction: the court where Dhaka criminal cases begin

CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction decides where almost every criminal matter arising in the capital begins. If an offence is reported at one of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police stations, the first production of the accused, the first bail hearing, the police report, the decision to take cognizance and, for most everyday offences, the trial itself will take place before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or one of the magistrates under the CMM's control. Getting the forum, the register and the route right on day one saves weeks; getting them wrong can cost a client liberty or a complainant the case.

This guide explains how the Dhaka metropolitan magistracy is built, which police stations it serves, what sentences its courts can pass after the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2026 raised the fine ceilings, which cases it hears and which it must send to the Metropolitan Court of Session, how complaint petitions and police cases are handled, and how it differs from the Chief Judicial Magistrate courts that serve the rest of the country. Bail practice, FIR drafting and charge hearings have their own TRW guides, linked where they fit; this article is the map of the court itself.

Summary: The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court in Dhaka is the criminal magistracy for the Dhaka Metropolitan Area. It consists of the CMM, Additional CMMs and Metropolitan Magistrates, who hold first-class powers: up to five years' imprisonment and, since the 2026 amendment, a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh. It takes cognizance of offences from the 50 DMP police stations and on complaint petitions, tries most Penal Code and special-law offences within those limits, and sends offences triable exclusively by the Court of Session to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge.

Key point: Older references still say a Metropolitan Magistrate can fine only Tk 10,000 and order whipping. That is no longer the law. Act No. XI of 2026 raised the fine ceilings in section 32 of the Code to Tk 5 lakh, Tk 3 lakh and Tk 2 lakh for first-, second- and third-class magistrates and removed whipping, with effect from 10 August 2025.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

What CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction covers in 2026

Section 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 recognises two classes of criminal court below the Supreme Court: Courts of Session and Courts of Magistrates. Judicial magistrates are graded into four classes, and in a metropolitan area the top tier is the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, including any Additional CMM, while first-class magistrates are called Metropolitan Magistrates.[1] Outside metropolitan areas the same tiers are the Chief Judicial Magistrate and the Magistrates of the first, second and third class. The present structure dates from the 2009 amendment to the Code, which took effect from 1 November 2007 and completed the separation of the judicial magistracy from the executive.[1]

In practical terms, CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction has four parts. The court is a trial court for offences within its sentencing powers. It is a cognizance court that decides whether a police report or complaint will go forward at all. It is a supervisory and remand court during investigation, handling first production, remand, bail and warrants. And it is a sending court for the gravest cases, which must be transferred to the Metropolitan Court of Session. Each function has its own rules, and lawyers who treat the CMM court as only a bail court miss most of its power.

Why the metropolitan label matters

The metropolitan magistracy is a separate establishment from the district magistracy, with its own chief, supervising Sessions court and territory. A matter within CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction cannot simply be filed in the Dhaka CJM court, or the reverse. The first question is therefore geographical: which police station covers the place of the offence?

How the Dhaka metropolitan criminal courts are structured

Section 18 of the Code requires that in every metropolitan area the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates and the other Metropolitan Magistrates be appointed from persons employed in the Bangladesh Judicial Service.[1] They are career judges, not civil servants on deputation, and they owe their posting and discipline to the judicial service framework rather than to the police or the district administration.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate

The CMM is both a trial magistrate and the administrative head of the metropolitan magistracy. Section 21 gives the CMM all the powers conferred on the CMM or on a Metropolitan Magistrate by the Code or any other law in force, and allows the CMM, with the prior sanction of the Government, to make rules on the allocation of cases, the practice of the courts, the constitution of benches, sitting times and places, and the resolution of disagreements between magistrates.[1] Section 17(3) adds a power to make special orders on the distribution of business among Metropolitan Magistrates and benches.[1] In practice this is the power that decides which courtroom hears which police station's cases.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates

Under section 18(2) the Government may appoint one or more Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates, each of whom has all or any of the CMM's powers as the Government directs.[1] ACMMs typically take a share of the CMM's cognizance, bail and administrative work, which is why a high-profile Dhaka matter is often heard by an ACMM rather than by the CMM personally.

Metropolitan Magistrates

Metropolitan Magistrates hold first-class powers and do the bulk of the trial work. Section 20 provides that each Metropolitan Magistrate may exercise jurisdiction in all places within the metropolitan area to which he or she is appointed, so jurisdiction attaches to the whole Dhaka Metropolitan Area rather than to a single police station.[1] Allocation by police station is an administrative arrangement under the CMM's distribution orders, not a limit on a magistrate's legal power. In November 2025 the Dhaka Tribune reported that judges of 37 CMM courts were handling cases from 50 police stations.[6]

Who supervises the CMM court

Section 17(4) makes the Metropolitan Magistrates, including the CMM, subordinate to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, just as Judicial Magistrates and the CJM are subordinate to the Sessions Judge of the district.[1] The Court of Session for a metropolitan area is called the Metropolitan Court of Session under section 9(1), and the Code's definition of "Court of Session" includes it.[1] Above the Metropolitan Sessions Judge sits the High Court Division, with its revisional and inherent jurisdiction.

Territorial reach: which police stations fall within CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction

The Dhaka Metropolitan Area is defined by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 as the area described in its first schedule, and section 108 of that Ordinance allows the Government to add adjoining areas to it or remove areas from it by notification.[4] The metropolitan magistracy follows that area. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police came into being on 1 February 1976 with 12 police stations; it now operates through 50.[5]

The 50 DMP police stations

The DMP stations run from Kotwali, Sutrapur, Lalbagh, Chackbazar and Kamrangirchar in the old city, through Ramna, Shahbag, Motijheel, Paltan, Dhanmondi, Tejgaon and Hatirjheel in the centre, to Gulshan, Banani, Badda, Mirpur, Pallabi, Uttara East, Uttara West, Turag, Dakshin Khan and Uttar Khan in the north, and Jatrabari, Demra, Kadamtoli and Shyampur in the south-east.[13] A case recorded at any of them is a case for the Dhaka CMM court. Because DMP boundaries shift as new stations are created, always check which station actually recorded the case rather than assuming from the neighbourhood name.

Dhaka addresses that are outside the metropolitan magistracy

Large parts of Dhaka district are not within the DMP area. Savar, Keraniganj and the other upazilas of Dhaka district do not appear among the DMP stations, and their cases go to the Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate court, not the CMM court.[13] In September 2026, for example, remand orders in a Savar killing case were passed by a Senior Judicial Magistrate of the Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.[8] Gazipur and Narayanganj are separate districts again. A Dhaka postal address is therefore not proof that the CMM court has jurisdiction.

Where the case is recorded versus where the accused is arrested

Jurisdiction follows the case, not the arrest or the accused's home. An accused living in Savar who is named in a Gulshan police station case answers to the CMM court, and a person arrested in Dhaka on another district's warrant must ultimately deal with the issuing court. Where a warrant is involved, TRW's guides to arrest warrants in Bangladesh and warrant recall petitions explain the next steps.

Sentencing powers after the 2026 amendment

A magistrate can try only those offences the Code allows and can impose only the sentences the Code permits. Both limits matter: a Metropolitan Magistrate who is competent to try an offence may still be unable to pass the sentence it deserves, which is why the Code provides for transfer upwards in serious cases.

Section 32: the ordinary limits

Section 32(1) now provides that a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class may pass imprisonment of up to five years, including solitary confinement where authorised by law, and a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh. A second-class magistrate may pass up to three years and Tk 3 lakh, and a third-class magistrate up to two years and Tk 2 lakh.[2] Section 32(2) allows any lawful combination of those sentences.[2]

What the 2026 Act changed

The fine ceilings were raised from Tk 10,000, Tk 5,000 and Tk 2,000 respectively, and whipping was removed from the list of permitted sentences, by section 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act No. XI of 2026), with effect from 10 August 2025.[2] The Act is dated 10 April 2026 and also amends sections 260, 413 and 414, inserts the arrest safeguards in sections 46A to 46E and adds sections 167A, 173A, 173B and 264A.[3] The five-, three- and two-year imprisonment ceilings were not changed; they date from a 1982 ordinance.[2]

Sections 29C and 33A: enhanced powers

Under section 29C the Government, in consultation with the High Court Division, may invest the CMM, a CJM or an Additional CJM with power to try all offences not punishable with death, and a Metropolitan Magistrate or first-class magistrate with power to try offences not punishable with death, transportation or imprisonment exceeding ten years.[1] A court so empowered may, under section 33A, pass any sentence authorised by law except death, transportation or imprisonment exceeding seven years.[1] The practical effect is that a specially empowered CMM court can try offences that would otherwise go to Sessions, but cannot sentence above seven years.

Default imprisonment and petty sentences

The higher fine ceilings have a knock-on effect on appeals. Section 413 bars an appeal where a Metropolitan Magistrate imposes only a fine of up to Tk 5,000, a threshold raised from Tk 50 by the same 2026 Act.[1] [3] Clients who are offered a fine-only outcome should understand that it may be final.

Types of cases heard in the CMM court

Section 28 provides that a Penal Code offence may be tried by the High Court Division, the Court of Session or any other court shown in the eighth column of the Second Schedule.[1] That column is the first place to check whether a Metropolitan Magistrate can try the case. For offences under other laws, the special statute usually names the forum; where it is silent, the Second Schedule's general rules apply. TRW's guide to criminal offences and penalties in Bangladesh sets out the sentence attached to the main offences.

Offences the CMM court commonly tries

The daily list in a Dhaka metropolitan courtroom is dominated by hurt, theft, criminal trespass, criminal intimidation, insult, cheating and criminal breach of trust where the sentence is within magistrate powers, mischief, minor forgery, offences against public servants, and offences under the DMP Ordinance itself. The Ordinance creates a range of local offences, from contravening police directions and traffic orders to street harassment of women, carrying weapons without authority and possessing property without a satisfactory account.[4]

Cheque dishonour cases

Since the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2026, section 141(c) of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 provides that no court inferior to a Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge or Joint Sessions Judge may try a section 138 offence where the cheque exceeds Tk 5 lakh, and that every other section 138 offence is triable by a Metropolitan Magistrate or first-class magistrate.[9] The case must be brought on a written complaint by the payee or holder in due course within one month of the cause of action.[9] Smaller cheque cases arising in Dhaka are therefore now a significant part of the CMM court's complaint docket; appeals are covered in our guide to the cheque case appeal in Bangladesh.

First production in cases the CMM court will not try

Even where the offence is triable only by the Court of Session, the Dhaka CMM court usually handles the investigation stage of a DMP police case. In April 2026, for instance, a former Speaker arrested in an attempted-murder case recorded at Lalbagh police station was produced before a Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate, who rejected both the police remand plea and the defence bail petition and sent her to jail.[7] Remand and bail at this stage are covered in TRW's guides to police remand in Bangladesh and the CMM court bail process.

What the CMM court does not try

It does not try offences reserved to the Court of Session, such as murder, and it does not try offences that a special statute sends to a dedicated tribunal. Metropolitan courts are criminal courts only: civil suits, family matters and money-loan cases belong to the civil judiciary. Executive magistrates running mobile courts exercise a separate, limited power and are not part of the CMM's establishment.

Cognizance: how a case formally enters the CMM court

Taking cognizance is the moment a magistrate applies judicial mind to an offence with a view to proceeding. It is distinct from receiving an FIR, ordering an inquiry or granting bail, and it is the step after which the accused is formally summoned or a warrant issued.

Three routes under section 190

Section 190(1) allows the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, a Metropolitan Magistrate, the CJM and first-class magistrates to take cognizance of an offence on a complaint of facts constituting it, on a police officer's written report of such facts, or on information from any person other than a police officer, or on the magistrate's own knowledge or suspicion.[1] In Dhaka, almost all cognizance is taken on one of the first two routes: a complaint petition, or a police report following investigation of an FIR.

Police reports and offences under the DMP Ordinance

Section 99 of the DMP Ordinance provides that no court may take cognizance of an offence punishable under the Ordinance except on a written report by a police officer.[4] A private complaint cannot start a DMP Ordinance prosecution. For Penal Code and most special-law offences, by contrast, both routes are available. When the police file a charge sheet, the magistrate decides whether to take cognizance against those named; when they file a final report, the magistrate may accept it or, on a naraji petition by the informant, direct further inquiry or take cognizance on the complaint.

Executive magistrates and section 190(4)

Section 190(4) allows the Government to empower an executive magistrate to take cognizance, but only by an order stating reasons and a period, and the executive magistrate must then send the case to a court of competent jurisdiction for trial.[1] The trial itself remains with the judicial magistracy.

Complaint petitions before a Metropolitan Magistrate

A complaint is an allegation, oral or written, made to a magistrate with a view to action under the Code that some person has committed an offence; a police report is not a complaint.[1] In Dhaka, complaint petitions are filed before the CMM court and are distributed to the magistrate who holds that police station's work under the CMM's allocation orders. How to draft and file one is covered in TRW's guide on how to file a criminal case in Bangladesh; what follows is how the court treats it.

Examination of the complainant on oath

Section 200 requires the magistrate, on taking cognizance on a complaint, to examine the complainant and any witnesses present on oath, record the substance in writing and have it signed.[1] The examination is not required where the complaint is in writing and is made by a court or a public servant acting in an official capacity, or where the case is transferred under section 192 and the transferring magistrate has already examined the complainant.[1] Complainants should attend in person on the filing date, with the key witnesses if possible.

Inquiry, investigation, dismissal or process

After examination the magistrate has four broad options: dismiss the complaint, issue process against the accused, postpone process and inquire personally, or direct an inquiry or investigation by a police officer or another person under section 202.[1] In Dhaka the commonest orders are an inquiry or investigation by a police unit or another person, or a direction to the officer in charge to record the complaint as an FIR. The April 2026 case above began exactly that way: the victim filed a complaint, and the police station recorded it as an FIR on the court's direction.[7]

Choosing between a complaint and an FIR

The choice is strategic. A complaint keeps the complainant in control and is the natural route for non-cognizable offences and the mandatory route for cheque cases, while DMP Ordinance offences cannot be started this way at all. An FIR mobilises police investigation powers but hands control to the investigating officer. Our GD vs FIR guide explains the police-station side.

GR and CR cases: the two registers in the CMM court

Every criminal matter in a Bangladeshi magistrate's court sits in one of two registers. A case begun by an FIR at a police station is a GR (General Register) case, also called a police case. A case begun by a complaint petition to a magistrate is a CR (Complaint Register) case.[10] The two follow different early stages but converge once cognizance is taken: in a CR case the steps are complaint, examination of the complainant, any inquiry report and cognizance; in a GR case they are FIR, investigation, police report and cognizance. From the charge hearing onward, the trial runs in the same way.[10]

Why the register matters in practice

The register decides who drives the case. In a GR case the State prosecutes through the police and public prosecutors, and the informant is a witness. In a CR case the complainant must keep the case moving, attend dates and produce witnesses, and a complaint can be dismissed for default. The register also decides how the file is found: a GR case is tracked by its police station case number and GR number, a CR case by its CR number. Note both on every document, every vakalatnama and every application for certified copies.

When a CR case becomes a police case

Where a magistrate directs the police to record a complaint as an FIR, the matter moves into the GR stream and the police take over investigation. Where the magistrate merely orders an inquiry, the matter remains a CR case and returns to the court with the inquiry report. Complainants frequently confuse the two orders; reading the order sheet is essential.

Summary trials and the 2026 one-session procedure

Section 260 allows a Metropolitan Magistrate, a first-class magistrate or a bench with first-class powers to try summarily offences not punishable with death, transportation or imprisonment exceeding two years, along with a list of specified offences including hurt, mischief, criminal trespass, insult, criminal intimidation and certain theft and stolen-property offences.[1] The 2026 Act raised the value limit for the theft and property offences in that list from Tk 10,000 to Tk 5 lakh, with effect from 10 August 2025.[1] [3]

The same Act inserted section 264A, which allows the court in a summary trial, notwithstanding section 262, to frame the charge, record evidence, examine the accused under section 342 and pronounce judgment in a single session where practicable, at any place within its jurisdiction.[1] Section 260 does not apply where the court is exercising section 33A powers.[1] For defendants in minor Dhaka cases, this means a case can now be finished on the first effective date; preparation for that date must be complete. The charge stage in regular trials is covered in our guide to framing of charges in Bangladesh.

Cases sent up to the Metropolitan Court of Session

Where a case is brought before a magistrate, on a police report or otherwise, and the offence appears to be triable exclusively by the Court of Session, section 205C requires the magistrate to transfer the case to the Court of Session, send the record and any documents and articles to be produced in evidence, notify the Public Prosecutor, and remand the accused in custody for the trial, subject to the Code's bail provisions.[1] In Dhaka the receiving court is the Metropolitan Court of Session, which then assigns the case for trial.

What changes after transfer

Once the record leaves the CMM court, applications for bail, discharge and adjournment go to the Sessions court that holds it. Lawyers who keep filing in the CMM court after transfer waste days. Check the order sheet for the date of the section 205C order and confirm with the Sessions nazarat that the record has arrived. Before transfer, the CMM court remains the bail court even for a Sessions offence.

Complaint cases triable by Sessions

For a complaint alleging an offence triable exclusively by the Court of Session, section 202 allows the magistrate to postpone process and inquire, and requires the complainant to produce all witnesses and have them examined on oath before process issues.[1] A complainant who arrives with only a petition is unlikely to get a summons in a serious case.

Roles and responsibilities inside the CMM court

Knowing who does what in the building is as practical as knowing the law. The CMM allocates police stations and case types among courts, deals with administrative complaints, and personally hears a share of cognizance, bail and sensitive matters. ACMMs share that work. Metropolitan Magistrates hold trial, remand, bail and warrant powers for their allocated stations and try cases within section 32.

Prosecution in police cases at magistrate level is conducted through the DMP's prosecution division, which the Dhaka Tribune's reporting describes as headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (Prosecution), alongside public prosecutors who appear in contested hearings.[6] [7] Investigating officers attend to seek remand and submit reports. Court police manage the lockup and escort prisoners. Defence lawyers, complainants and sureties complete the cast.

The magistrate's duties during investigation

During investigation, the Metropolitan Magistrate is the judicial check on police power. The magistrate decides on detention and remand, records confessions and witness statements when asked, considers bail, issues warrants and search warrants, and receives the police report. The 2026 Act strengthened that role with new arrest safeguards in sections 46A to 46E and a provision on shown arrest in section 167A.[3]

Rules and regulations that govern CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction

There is no single "CMM court rulebook". CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction rests on a layered set of instruments, and a dispute about procedure usually turns on which layer applies.

• Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Sections 6, 9, 17, 18, 20 and 21 constitute and organise the court; sections 28 to 33A fix its powers; sections 190 to 205C govern cognizance, complaints and transfers to Sessions; section 260 onwards governs summary trials; and sections 408 to 439A govern appeals and revision.[1]
• Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2026. Act No. XI of 2026 changed fines, summary trial limits, arrest safeguards, investigation timelines and bail mechanics.[3]
• Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976. Defines the metropolitan area, creates local offences and limits cognizance of those offences to police reports.[4]
• Section 21 rules and distribution orders. Made by the CMM with Government sanction to allocate work, constitute benches and fix sittings.[1]
• Special statutes. Laws such as the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 override the general forum rules for their own offences.[9]
• Supreme Court practice directions. The Criminal Rules and Orders and High Court Division circulars regulate registers, records, copies and the conduct of subordinate criminal courts.

The penal sections themselves come from the Penal Code 1860 and the special laws. TRW's overview of criminal law in Bangladesh explains how those statutes fit together.

Appeals, revision and further remedies

Under section 408, a person convicted by a Metropolitan Magistrate or a first-class Judicial Magistrate appeals to the Sessions Judge.[1] For Dhaka metropolitan convictions that means the Metropolitan Court of Session, to which the CMM's courts are subordinate under section 17(4).[1] Interlocutory orders such as refusal of discharge or cognizance orders are challenged in revision before the Sessions Judge under section 439A or the High Court Division, and abuse of process can be addressed under section 561A. Time limits, forum choice and the trap of electing Sessions revision are covered in our guides to criminal appeals and criminal revision, and in TRW's section 561A criminal quashment practice.

Step-by-step: navigating a matter under CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction

The sequence below applies whether TRW acts for an accused, a complainant or a corporate victim. The emphasis differs, but the checkpoints are the same.

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Location and court-building practicalities

The Dhaka CMM court sits in the old-city court complex around Johnson Road, alongside the Dhaka Judge Court, the Metropolitan Sessions courts and the CJM court. A widely used Bangla court guide describes the CMM court as the northernmost building in the Dhaka court area, with Metropolitan Magistrate and ACMM courtrooms spread across its upper floors and the nazarat on the third floor; the listing was last updated in 2020, so check current court numbers on arrival.[12] The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court is near the National Medical College Hospital.[6]

Security and crowding

The complex is busy and, at times, tense. In November 2025, after a fatal shooting near the Sessions court, the Dhaka Tribune reported that 143 police personnel were deployed at the CMM court, that thousands of accused, witnesses and litigants pass through the premises every day, and that pickpocketing and snatching were common on the Johnson Road footpath; the CMM wrote to the DMP Commissioner seeking stronger security.[6] Keep phones, original documents and cash secure, and arrive early.

The lockup and production

Arrested persons are held in the CMM court lockup before production; in the April 2026 case above the accused waited about 75 minutes before being brought to a packed courtroom.[7] Families should expect long waits, limited access and a hearing that may last only minutes. Have the bail petition, surety documents and identity papers ready before the accused arrives.

Checking the cause list and case status

The Law and Justice Division's online cause list, at causelist.judiciary.org.bd, and the Amar Adalat (MyCourt) app let users select a district and court to see the day's list, the latest order, the next date and the case status for lower courts.[11] The order sheet in the court record remains the authoritative source.

CMM courts and CJM courts compared

Outside the metropolitan areas, the same functions are performed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate and the Judicial Magistrates of the district, who are subordinate to the CJM and, through the CJM, to the Sessions Judge.[1] The law applied is the same Code, the same Penal Code and the same special laws. What differs is the establishment, the supervising Sessions court, the police force that brings cases and the presence of second- and third-class magistrates, whose sentencing powers are lower.[2]

Why the contrast matters for Dhaka clients

Dhaka district shows both systems side by side, which is why CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction must be checked before anything is filed. A Mirpur matter belongs to the CMM court and the Metropolitan Sessions Judge; a Savar matter belongs to the CJM court and the District Sessions Judge.[8] Filing in the wrong establishment produces a return of the petition at best and a lost limitation period at worst, particularly in cheque cases with their one-month complaint window.[9] Bail differences between the two systems are covered in the CMM court bail guide.

What to watch in 2026

Three developments will shape CMM court Dhaka jurisdiction over the coming year. First, the full effect of Act No. XI of 2026 is still working through: higher fines, wider summary trial thresholds and one-session summary trials should move minor cases faster, but only if courts list them accordingly.[3] Second, the forum shift in cheque cases is moving a large volume of smaller complaints into the Metropolitan Magistrates' courts.[9]

Third, the administration of the subordinate courts is in flux. On 9 April 2026 Parliament passed the Supreme Court Secretariat (Repeal) Bill, moved by Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, abolishing the secretariat created by a 2025 ordinance and placing the administrative structure of the subordinate courts under the Law and Justice Division.[14] That does not change the CMM court's legal powers, but it affects postings, resources and court infrastructure. With 37 courts serving 50 police stations, capacity remains the binding constraint.[6]

Frequently asked questions

What is the CMM court in Dhaka?

It is the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate for the Dhaka Metropolitan Area: a body of judicial magistrates, comprising the CMM, Additional CMMs and Metropolitan Magistrates, who handle cognizance, remand, bail and trial of criminal cases arising there.[1]

Which police stations come under the Dhaka CMM court?

The 50 police stations of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, from Kotwali and Lalbagh to Gulshan, Mirpur and Uttara. Areas policed by Dhaka district police, such as Savar and Keraniganj, go to the Dhaka CJM court.[5] [8]

What is the maximum sentence a Metropolitan Magistrate can pass?

Five years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh under section 32, as amended in 2026. A court specially empowered under section 29C may pass up to seven years under section 33A.[1] [2]

Can a CMM court still order whipping or cap fines at Tk 10,000?

No. Act No. XI of 2026 removed whipping from section 32 and raised the first-class fine ceiling from Tk 10,000 to Tk 5 lakh, with effect from 10 August 2025.[2]

What is the difference between a GR case and a CR case?

A GR case is a police case begun by an FIR; a CR case is a complaint case begun by a petition to a magistrate. They converge once the magistrate takes cognizance.[10]

Can I file a complaint directly in the CMM court?

Yes, for Penal Code and most special-law offences. The magistrate examines you on oath and may dismiss, issue process, inquire or order a police investigation. Offences under the DMP Ordinance are an exception: they need a police report.[1] [4]

Does the CMM court try murder cases?

No. It handles the investigation stage, including production, remand and bail, and then transfers offences triable exclusively by the Court of Session to the Metropolitan Court of Session under section 205C.[1]

Are cheque dishonour cases heard in the CMM court?

Yes, if the cheque is for Tk 5 lakh or less. Larger cheques go to a Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge under section 141(c) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, as substituted in 2026.[9]

Where do appeals from the Dhaka CMM court go?

To the Sessions Judge under section 408, which for Dhaka metropolitan cases is the Metropolitan Court of Session. No appeal lies where only a fine of up to Tk 5,000 is imposed.[1]

How can I check a CMM court case date online?

Use the online cause list at causelist.judiciary.org.bd or the Amar Adalat app, selecting the district and court, and confirm against the order sheet.[11]