Criminal Case Process in Bangladesh: Stages from FIR to Judgment and Timelines (2026)

The criminal case process Bangladesh law sets in 2026: an end-to-end roadmap

The criminal case process Bangladesh law lays down runs through up to ten stages, three tiers of court and a set of statutory clocks that most parties never see written down in one place. It begins with a first information report at a police station or a complaint petition before a magistrate, and it ends, often years later, with an appeal decision and the execution or remission of a sentence. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2026, Act No. XI of 2026, has added new deadlines and safeguards at several of those stages, most notably a sixty-working-day limit for police investigations in section 173B.[2]

This guide is the map. It takes each stage in order, names the court or office in charge, states the time limit the law sets and explains what actually drives delay. Each stage is kept short and links to the TRW guide that covers it in depth, from filing a case and police remand to bail, framing of charges, appeal, revision and quashment. The value here is the end-to-end view: knowing what comes next, and which deadline matters now, is what lets a complainant or an accused person act in time.

Summary: A police case starts with an FIR under section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 and a complaint case with a petition to a magistrate. The police must now finish investigating within sixty working days, extendable by the magistrate. The police report (charge sheet or final report) goes to the magistrate, who takes cognizance and either tries the case or sends it to the Court of Session. The trial court hears discharge or frames charge, takes prosecution evidence, examines the accused under section 342, hears the defence and gives judgment. Appeals lie to the Sessions Judge or the High Court Division within seven, thirty or sixty days, with revision and section 561A available for orders that cannot be appealed.

Key point: The statutory clocks are levers, not guarantees. Section 173B gives sixty working days for investigation, section 167(5) opens a bail route once an investigation passes 120 days, and section 339C expects a magistrate to finish a trial in 180 days and a Court of Session in 360 days, with bail available if it does not.[1] [2] Lower courts held about 23.9 lakh pending criminal cases on 31 March 2026, so a party who wants speed has to invoke these provisions on the record.[8]

At a glance

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Table of Contents

The criminal case process Bangladesh courts follow, stage by stage

Every criminal case in Bangladesh moves through the same skeleton, set by the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Information reaches the police or a magistrate; the matter is investigated or inquired into; a magistrate takes cognizance; the accused appears, by arrest, summons or warrant; the trial court decides whether there is a case to answer; the trial takes evidence; judgment and sentence follow; and the losing side may appeal or seek revision.[1] Special statutes, such as the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, alter the forum and shorten some deadlines, but they borrow most of this structure.[7]

Two tracks run side by side. In a police case, an FIR is recorded at the police station, the police investigate, and the case reaches court through the police report. In a complaint case, the complainant goes straight to a magistrate, who examines the complainant on oath and may inquire or order an investigation before issuing process.[1] The two tracks meet at cognizance, and from charge onwards the procedure is the same.

Which court handles each stage

Magistrates handle the front end of almost every case: remand, bail at the first appearance, the police report, cognizance and the trial of offences within their powers. In metropolitan areas these are the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Metropolitan Magistrates; elsewhere, the Chief Judicial Magistrate and Judicial Magistrates.[1] Offences triable exclusively by a Court of Session are sent there under section 205C, and the Sessions Judge also hears appeals from magistrates and revisions. The High Court Division of the Supreme Court hears appeals from Sessions Judges and Additional Sessions Judges, confirms death sentences, and exercises revisional and inherent powers; the Appellate Division sits above it.[1] [6]

Timeline table: stages, courts and statutory clocks

The table sets out the whole criminal case process Bangladesh courts apply in one view, with the provision that governs each stage and the time limit, if any, the law attaches to it. On a phone, scroll it sideways. The sections that follow explain each row briefly and point to the detailed TRW guide.

Two cautions apply to every row. First, most of these clocks are directory rather than fatal: missing them rarely ends a case, but it creates a right to apply for bail, transfer of investigation or a direction for speedy disposal. Second, the appeal periods are the exception. They come from the Limitation Act 1908 and section 417 of the Code, and a party who misses them must justify the delay.[1] [5]

Stage 1: GD, FIR or complaint petition

Section 154 requires the officer in charge of a police station to reduce to writing any information about a cognizable offence, read it over to the informant, have it signed and enter its substance in the prescribed book. That entry is the first information report, and it starts a police case.[1] For a non-cognizable offence, section 155 requires the officer to record the substance of the information and refer the informant to the magistrate; the police cannot investigate it without a magistrate's order.[1] A general diary entry, by contrast, records an event and does not itself start a prosecution. Our guide to GD vs FIR in Bangladesh explains when each applies.

Where the police refuse to record an FIR, or the complainant prefers to keep control of the case, the alternative is a complaint petition. A magistrate may take cognizance on a complaint under section 190(1)(a), must examine the complainant on oath under section 200, may postpone process and inquire or direct an investigation under section 202, and may dismiss the complaint under section 203 if there is no sufficient ground to proceed.[1] The practical drafting points are covered in how to file a criminal case in Bangladesh.

The cost of a false case

The 2026 Act hardened section 250. Where a magistrate discharges or acquits an accused and finds the accusation false and either frivolous or vexatious, the magistrate must now call on the complainant or informant to show cause and, if satisfied, must order compensation to the accused. The ceiling has risen from Tk 1,000 to Tk 50,000.[1] [2] Anyone filing should treat accuracy as a legal obligation, not a courtesy. TRW's analysis of false accusation laws in Bangladesh covers the remedies on the other side.

Stage 2: Arrest, production and police remand

Arrest can come at any point, but it most often follows the FIR. Section 54, substituted in 2026, allows arrest without warrant for offences punishable with up to seven years only where the officer has reason to believe the person committed the offence and records why arrest is necessary, for example to prevent further offences or tampering with evidence. Where arrest is not required, the officer must record the reasons for not arresting.[2] Sections 46A to 46E add a memorandum of arrest, a general diary entry, health and medical-examination duties, and the right to consult a lawyer or meet a relative, preferably within twelve hours.[2] [3]

An arrested person must be produced before a magistrate within the twenty-four hours fixed by section 61. If the investigation cannot be completed in that time, section 167 allows the magistrate to authorise detention, but police custody may not exceed fifteen days in the whole of a case; any further detention must be in judicial custody.[1] [4]

The magistrate may order a medical examination before the accused is handed to the police, and must order one if injury or torture is alleged on return.[2] New section 167A requires the person to be produced and heard before a "shown arrest" in a second case is allowed.[2] For the hearing itself, see police remand in Bangladesh and rights of the accused in Bangladesh.

Stage 3: Investigation and the sixty-working-day limit in section 173B

Section 173B is the most important change the 2026 Act made to the criminal case process Bangladesh police follow. Every investigation under Chapter XIV must be completed within sixty working days from receipt of the information relating to the offence.[2] If the investigating officer cannot meet that deadline for reasonable cause, he must record the reasons in the case diary, apply to the magistrate for an extension stating specific grounds and the further time needed, and copy the supervising officer. The magistrate may extend the time as reasonable.[2]

If the extended time is also missed, the officer must explain in writing. The magistrate may then direct that another officer take over the investigation, or treat the delay as incompetence or misconduct, have it noted in the officer's annual confidential report and direct action under the service rules.[2] The Daily Star's analysis of the 2025 ordinances that the Act replaced described the change in the same terms: a sixty-working-day deadline with extensions only in limited circumstances, and power for magistrates to act against investigators who cause unreasonable delay.[4]

Interim reports and early discharge: section 173A

Section 173A allows the Police Commissioner, the District Superintendent of Police or an officer of equivalent rank supervising the case to call for an interim investigation report. If it shows insufficient evidence against an accused, the supervising officer may send it to the magistrate, who may discharge that accused while the investigation continues against the rest. The discharged person can still be named in the final police report if sufficient evidence later emerges.[2] For an accused named on thin grounds in a crowded FIR, this is now the earliest exit.

The 120-day bail trigger and special-law deadlines

Section 167(5) remains in force alongside section 173B. If the investigation is not concluded within 120 days of receipt of the information or of the magistrate's order to investigate, the magistrate may release the accused on bail for offences not punishable with death, life imprisonment or more than ten years, and the Court of Session may do so for the graver offences; a refusal must be reasoned.[1] Special laws set their own clocks. Under section 18 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, investigation must be completed within fifteen working days where the accused was caught in the act and thirty working days otherwise, with one further fifteen-working-day extension and longer time where DNA testing is needed.[7]

Stage 4: The police report, charge sheet or final report, and the naraji petition

The police report is the hinge of the criminal case process Bangladesh law creates. When the investigation ends, section 173(1) requires the officer in charge to forward a report to the magistrate empowered to take cognizance, in the prescribed form, and to communicate the action taken to the informant.[1]

In practice the report is either a charge sheet, which names the accused against whom the police say there is evidence, or a final report, which says there is not. Where a charge sheet is filed, section 173(3A) requires the police to forward the documents the prosecution relies on and the section 161 statements of the witnesses it proposes to examine.[1] Section 173(3B) preserves further investigation and supplementary reports after the first report has been filed.[1]

An informant who disagrees with a final report, or with the omission of an accused from the charge sheet, files a naraji (no-confidence) petition before the magistrate. The magistrate may order further or fresh investigation, change the investigating officer, hold a judicial inquiry or treat the petition as a complaint and proceed on it; if the petition is rejected, the aggrieved party can move in revision.[10] The new section 173B(6) also works in the opposite direction: on receiving the report, the court may direct that a person named as an accused be treated as a witness in the interest of justice.[2]

Stage 5: Cognizance, summons, warrants and transfer to the Court of Session

Cognizance is the magistrate's formal decision to proceed. Under section 190(1), a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Metropolitan Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate, first-class magistrate or specially empowered magistrate may take cognizance on a complaint, on a police report or on other information.[1] Under section 204, if there is sufficient ground for proceeding, the magistrate issues a summons or a warrant according to the fourth column of the second schedule.[1] An accused who learns of a warrant should act before it is executed. See our guides to arrest warrants in Bangladesh and the warrant recall petition.

If the offence is triable exclusively by a Court of Session, section 205C requires the magistrate to send the case there, deal with custody subject to the bail provisions, transmit the record and notify the Public Prosecutor.[1] Two 2026 changes affect this stage. Section 540A(3) lets the court dispense with the personal attendance of an accused who is on bail and represented by an advocate until the date fixed for hearing the investigation report. Section 339B now requires a newspaper order before an absconding accused can be tried in absence, with optional publication on court and police websites.[2]

Bail across the criminal case process Bangladesh courts run

Bail is not a single stage but a question that recurs from arrest to appeal. In bailable offences it is a right. In non-bailable offences, section 497 allows release but bars it where there are reasonable grounds for believing the accused guilty of an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, subject to a discretion for persons under sixteen, women and the sick or infirm.[1] Section 498 gives the Sessions Judge and the High Court Division a wider concurrent power, and the 2026 Act added section 498(2), which allows any court granting bail to impose reasonable and fair conditions to prevent abscondence or ensure good behaviour.[2]

Bail bonds can now be submitted online under section 499(3), with sureties verified through their national identity numbers.[2]

The usual sequence is the magistrate first, then the Sessions Judge, then the High Court Division, with the statutory triggers in sections 167(5) and 339C(4) strengthening an application as time passes.[1] Each forum has its own practice. See the CMM court bail process, High Court bail in Bangladesh, anticipatory bail in Bangladesh and our wider note on criminal defence and bail procedures.

Stage 6: Framing of charges or discharge

The charge hearing decides whether there will be a trial at all. Before a magistrate, section 241A requires the court to consider the record and documents, examine the accused if it thinks necessary, hear both sides and discharge the accused if it considers the charge groundless; otherwise section 242 requires a formal charge where there is ground for presuming the accused committed an offence.[1] Before a Court of Session, the prosecutor opens the case under section 265B, the court discharges under section 265C if there is no sufficient ground for proceeding, and frames a written charge under section 265D if there is.[1]

The charge is read and explained, and the accused is asked whether he pleads guilty. On a guilty plea the court may convict under section 265E; otherwise it fixes a date for prosecution evidence under section 265F.[1] An order framing charge, or refusing discharge, is usually challenged by revision or an application under section 561A rather than appeal. The detail, including how prima facie sufficiency is tested, is in framing of charges in Bangladesh.

Stage 7: Trial, from prosecution evidence to section 342 and the defence

At trial the prosecution calls its witnesses first. In a Sessions trial, section 265G requires the court to take all evidence produced for the prosecution and allows cross-examination of a witness to be deferred or a witness recalled; in a magistrate's warrant trial, section 244 provides the equivalent.[1] Witness attendance is the commonest cause of adjournment, which is why the 2026 additions matter once the charge sheet has been accepted: section 69(4) allows summons to be served by SMS, voice call, instant messaging or email, and section 544(2) allows any court to order protection for an informant, complainant, victim or witness at any stage.[2]

Examination of the accused under section 342

When the prosecution witnesses have been examined and before the accused is called on for the defence, section 342 requires the court to question the accused generally on the case, so that he can explain any circumstance appearing in the evidence against him. The accused is not liable to punishment for refusing to answer or for false answers, but the court may draw such inference as it thinks just.[1] Every incriminating circumstance the prosecution relies on should be put to the accused at this point; a circumstance not put is a familiar ground of appeal.

Acquittal at half-time, the defence and arguments

Section 265H requires a Court of Session to acquit if, after the prosecution evidence and the examination of the accused, there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence. Otherwise, under section 265-I, the accused is called on to enter the defence, may file a written statement, and is entitled to process for defence witnesses and documents unless the request is made for vexation or delay. Section 265J then provides for the prosecutor to sum up and the defence to reply.[1]

Trial time limits and summary trials

Section 339C requires a magistrate to conclude a trial within 180 days and a Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judge or Assistant Sessions Judge within 360 days of receiving the case, and section 339C(4) allows an accused in a non-bailable case to be released on bail if the trial overruns, unless the court records reasons otherwise.[1] For summary trials, new section 264A allows charge, evidence, the section 342 examination and judgment to be completed in the same session at any place within the court's jurisdiction.[2] [4] Before a Women and Children Repression Prevention tribunal, trial must be completed within 180 working days of receipt, and a rape trial within ninety working days of charge.[7]

Stage 8: Judgment, sentencing and death references

After arguments, the court gives judgment: section 265K for a Court of Session, and section 245 for a magistrate's warrant trial.[1] Section 366 requires judgment to be pronounced in open court, immediately or on notice, and section 367 requires it to set out the points for determination, the decision and the reasons.[1] On conviction, section 35A requires the court, except where the only punishment is death, to deduct from a sentence of imprisonment the time already spent in custody for the offence, and to release the convict at once if that period exceeds the sentence.[1]

A death sentence passed by a Court of Session cannot be executed until the High Court Division confirms it. Section 374 requires the proceedings to be submitted, and section 376 allows the High Court Division to confirm, alter the sentence or annul the conviction.[1] Compromise remains possible late in the day for compoundable offences, and new section 345(8) allows the court to facilitate compounding or refer the parties to the legal aid officer.[2] Under section 173B(7), the trial court may also record a finding that the investigating officer negligently or deliberately failed to collect evidence, wrongly treated a culprit as a witness or failed to examine a material witness, and direct action against him.[2]

Stage 9: Appeal, revision and section 561A

The appellate forum follows the trial court. Under section 408, a person convicted by a Joint Sessions Judge, Metropolitan Magistrate or first-class Judicial Magistrate appeals to the Sessions Judge, although an appeal from a Joint Sessions Judge's sentence of more than five years lies to the High Court Division. Under section 410, a person convicted by a Sessions Judge or Additional Sessions Judge appeals to the High Court Division.[1] The Limitation Act fixes the windows: seven days from sentence for an appeal from a death sentence, thirty days for an appeal to any court other than the High Court Division, sixty days for other appeals to the High Court Division, and six months for an appeal from an acquittal.[5]

Against acquittal, section 417 allows the Government to direct an appeal, and allows a complainant in a complaint case to appeal an original acquittal involving an error of law occasioning failure of justice, but not after sixty days.[1] Pending appeal, section 426 lets the appellate court suspend the sentence and grant bail.[1] Further appeal to the Appellate Division lies as of right where the High Court Division has confirmed or imposed a death sentence or life imprisonment, and otherwise only with leave under article 103 of the Constitution.[6] The full route is in criminal appeal in Bangladesh.

Revision and quashment

Interlocutory orders, and final orders where no appeal lies, go to revision. Section 435 allows the High Court Division or a Sessions Judge to call for the record of an inferior criminal court to check the correctness, legality or propriety of any finding, sentence or order, and section 439A gives the Sessions Judge the High Court Division's revisional powers in the cases before him.[1]

Section 442A expects appeals and revisions to be disposed of within ninety working days of service of notice.[1] Separately, section 561A preserves the High Court Division's inherent power to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise secure the ends of justice, which is the usual route to quash a proceeding that should never have started.[1] See criminal revision in Bangladesh and section 561A quashment.

Stage 10: Execution of sentence, fines and remission

Execution is the last stage of the criminal case process Bangladesh law prescribes, and it is handled by the trial court and the jail. For imprisonment, section 383 requires the sentencing court to forward a warrant to the jail at once. For a death sentence, section 381 requires the Court of Session to carry the High Court Division's order into effect by warrant only after it receives the confirmation or other order.[1] Fines are recovered under section 386 by attachment and sale of movable property or through the Collector by civil process.[1]

Two executive powers sit outside the courts. Section 401 allows the Government to suspend or remit a sentence, with or without conditions the convict accepts, and article 49 of the Constitution gives the President power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence.[1] [6] A convict whose appeal is pending should apply under section 426 rather than wait for either.

Realistic timelines for the criminal case process Bangladesh parties face

The statutory clocks describe a case that runs from FIR to first-instance judgment in well under two years. Most do not. Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman told Parliament on 7 July 2026 that 46,39,476 cases were pending in all courts, including 28,26,213 criminal cases; the lower courts alone held 23,87,989 pending criminal cases on 31 March 2026, against 2,26,011 criminal cases disposed of by those courts over the previous year. He also reported 1,964 judges serving in the lower courts against 2,620 sanctioned posts.[8]

The higher courts are moving faster than before. Between 1 January and 31 August 2026 the High Court Division disposed of 87,596 cases, more than in the whole of 2025, and a special bench formed in June to prioritise death references in violence against women and children cases had disposed of 22 of them.[11]

The Magura child rape and murder case illustrates the range. The victim died on 13 March 2025, the tribunal delivered its verdict on 17 May 2025, and the High Court Division upheld the death sentence on 31 August 2026, once such references were being prioritised.[9] [11] That is the fast end of the spectrum, achieved by a tribunal with its own statutory deadlines and a prioritised bench.

What drives delay, and what shortens it

Delay concentrates at four points: investigation, witness attendance at trial, the wait for a paper book in the High Court Division, and the listing of appeals. The new provisions give parties something to press on at each. An application citing section 173B(2) to (5) puts an overdue investigation on the record; a bail application under section 339C(4) turns a trial overrun into a liberty argument; and section 442A supports a request for early hearing of an appeal or revision.[1] [2] The Attorney General has also identified the naming of large numbers of suspects in criminal cases as a cause of prolonged bail, trial and sentencing proceedings.[11]

Managing a criminal case from first report to final order

Whether acting for a complainant, an accused person or a company caught up in a case, the same sequence keeps a matter under control. The steps below follow the order of the case and identify the decision that matters at each point.

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Mistakes that cost time or rights

• Treating the FIR as a draft: the first account is compared with every later statement, and inconsistencies become cross-examination material; section 250 now makes a false and vexatious case expensive.[2]
• Ignoring the investigation clock: neither side benefits from an investigation that drifts; an application under section 173B or section 167(5) is the remedy.[1] [2]
• Missing the naraji window: an informant who lets a final report be accepted without objection makes a later challenge much harder.[10]
• Arriving unprepared at the charge hearing: discharge under section 241A or 265C is decided on the record as it stands, so the defence must have analysed the police report and documents by then.[1]
• Losing the appeal deadline: seven days for a death sentence, thirty days to a Sessions Judge and sixty days to the High Court Division run from the sentence, so apply for certified copies the same day.[5]

What to watch in 2026 and 2027

Three questions will decide how much the 2026 reforms change the criminal case process Bangladesh courts administer. The first is whether magistrates actually use the transfer and misconduct powers in section 173B(5), because the deadline has teeth only if overruns have consequences.[2] The second is whether the early-exit tools, interim-report discharge under section 173A and the accused-as-witness power in section 173B(6), reduce the number of people carried through a case on a crowded FIR, the problem the Attorney General has highlighted.[2] [11] The third is whether the High Court Division's 2026 disposal rate in death references and old criminal matters is sustained.[11]

TRW acts for complainants, accused persons and corporate clients at every stage mapped here: drafting FIRs and complaint petitions, opposing remand, bail before the magistrate, Sessions Judge and High Court Division, discharge and charge hearings, trials, appeals, revisions and section 561A applications. Explore our criminal quashment and High Court practice, read our overview of criminal law in Bangladesh, or contact TRW to have the stage, forum and deadline in your case checked.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main stages of the criminal case process Bangladesh courts follow?

FIR or complaint petition, arrest and remand where relevant, investigation, the police report, cognizance, bail, charge or discharge, trial with the section 342 examination and defence, judgment and sentence, appeal or revision, and execution of sentence.[1]

How long do the police have to complete an investigation?

Sixty working days from receipt of the information, under section 173B added by Act No. XI of 2026. The magistrate may extend the time and, if the extension is missed, transfer the investigation to another officer.[2]

What is the difference between a police case and a complaint case?

A police case starts with an FIR under section 154 and reaches court through the police report. A complaint case starts with a petition to a magistrate, who examines the complainant on oath under section 200 and may inquire or order an investigation under section 202.[1]

What can an informant do if the police file a final report?

If there is no charge sheet, or it leaves out an accused, file a naraji petition before the magistrate asking for further or fresh investigation, a judicial inquiry or for the petition to be treated as a complaint. If it is rejected, revision is available.[10]

How long can the police keep an accused on remand?

No more than fifteen days in police custody in the whole of a case. Any further detention ordered by the magistrate must be judicial custody.[1] [4]

Which court tries a criminal case?

A magistrate tries offences within his powers. Offences triable exclusively by a Court of Session are sent there under section 205C. Special laws, such as the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, send their offences to tribunals.[1] [7]

What is the section 342 examination?

After the prosecution witnesses and before the defence, the court questions the accused generally so he can explain the circumstances against him. He is not punished for refusing to answer, but the court may draw inferences.[1]

How long should a criminal trial take?

Section 339C sets 180 days for a trial before a magistrate and 360 days before a Court of Session, from receipt of the case. If the trial overruns, an accused in a non-bailable case may be released on bail unless the court records reasons otherwise.[1]

What is the deadline for a criminal appeal?

Seven days from sentence for an appeal from a death sentence, thirty days for an appeal to a court other than the High Court Division, sixty days for other appeals to the High Court Division, and six months for an appeal from an acquittal.[5]

Can a death sentence be carried out after the trial court's judgment?

No. Under section 374 a death sentence passed by a Court of Session cannot be executed unless the High Court Division confirms it, and section 381 requires execution only after the confirmation order is received.[1]