United News of Bangladesh

The Cabinet on Thursday approved in principle and gave final approval to four draft laws aimed at updating Bangladesh’s legal framework on gambling, narcotics control, public examination offences and higher education. The approval came at the 10th meeting of the Cabinet held at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair. The Cabinet gave approval in principle to the draft Gambling Prevention Act, 2026. The proposed law seeks to replace and modernise the Public Gambling Act, 1867 in the wake of the rapid expansion of online and offline gambling facilitated by advanced technology. The new law aims to maintain public order, reduce crime, prevent social, economic and psychological harm, and establish a modern legal framework to regulate gambling activities while safeguarding the country's moral and economic stability. The draft introduces definitions for various gambling-related terms, including gambling, gambling premises, gambling equipment, digital assets, digital gambling platforms, digital wallets, totalisators, online and remote gambling, betting, bookmakers, and match-fixing or spot-fixing. It also proposes different categories of punishment, including fines, imprisonment or both, depending on the nature and severity of the offence. The Cabinet also gave the final approval to the draft Public Examinations (Offences) (Amendment) Act, 2026. The amendment updates the Public Examinations (Offences) Act, 1980 to address examination-related crimes committed using digital technology. Under the amended law, hacking or illegally altering public examination results or merit lists has been recognised as a new offence under the category of "Digital Manipulation." The offence will carry a maximum punishment of five-year imprisonment along with a fine. The amendment also includes stricter penalties and fines for organised examination fraud and criminal syndicates involved in such offences. The Cabinet further approved in principle the draft Bogura University Act, 2026. The proposed law replaces the Bogura Science and Technology University Act, 2001, on which a gazette was published on July 15, 2001, but never became operational. The government has decided to transform the planned specialised science and technology university into a fully-fledged public university offering education and research in science, life sciences, engineering, technology, arts, social sciences, business administration, law, agriculture, medical sciences and other emerging fields to produce skilled human resources. The Cabinet also approved the draft Narcotics Control (Amendment) Act, 2026. The amendment seeks to strengthen the existing Narcotics Control Act, 2018 (amended in 2020) in response to changing patterns of drug trafficking, technology-based narcotics crimes and challenges faced during judicial proceedings. The proposed amendment provides for the establishment of Narcotics Crime Suppression Tribunals to strengthen judicial proceedings in drug-related cases. It also introduces new provisions to tackle cyber-enabled narcotics offences, particularly those committed through cyberspace. The draft includes measures to enhance coordination among agencies in preventing drug smuggling in border areas and conducting joint operations. In addition, it proposes the formation of specialised dog squads to improve the detection and identification of narcotic substances.