On November 8, 2020, in a landmark verdict, the High Court Division upheld five years' imprisonment of a convict, Moti Matbor, in a narcotics-related case, but allowed him to stay with his family on three conditions: ensuring continuation of studies of his 10th-grader daughter and second-grader son, taking care of his 75-year-old mother and not marrying off his daughter, now 15, until she turns 18 as per the relevant law. This historic verdict has brought to the forefront quite an old law: The Probation of Offenders Ordinance, 1960. This law, despite being in place for long, is rarely invoked.

The said Ordinance allows courts to sentence someone to something other than a fine or imprisonment. It also makes room for conditional discharge or release on probation- as an alternative to incarceration. According to section 4 of the Ordinance, if first time offenders are convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment for not more than two years, the court may make an order discharging them after an admonition; make an order discharging them subject to the condition that they enter into a bond (with or without sureties) for committing no offence and being of good behaviour during such period not exceeding one year from the date of the order as may be specified therein.

The conditional discharge will be decided having regard to "the age, character, antecedents or physical or mental condition of the offender, and the nature of the offence or any extenuating circumstances attending the commission of the offence".

In any case, Section 5 establishes that where a court is of the opinion that the offender – "having regard to the circumstances including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender" – should not be sentenced to imprisonment they can order their release on probation. The use of probation has a strong gender dimension, as it has been extended for women convicted of any offence not punishable with death, whereas a man convicted of an offence punishable by death, life imprisonment, or certain other offences in Chapter VI or VII of the Penal Code 1860 (e.g. offences against the State, extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt, offence of harbouring robbers or dacoits etc.) is not entitled to be released on probation.

According to Section 3 of the Ordinance, the High Court Division, a Court of Sessions, a District Magistrate, a Magistrate of the 1st Class, and any other magistrate especially empowered in this behalf shall be empowered to exercise powers under the Ordinance.

With the Probation of Offenders Ordinance 1960, among others, the penal system in Bangladesh does have the essence of reformative form of justice as opposed to a retributive one. However, the use of probation by the courts in Bangladesh is rare, owing largely to certain widespread misconceptions, (such as that probation is available only for first time offenders), absence of  comprehensive policies, overarching monitoring or supervision, lack of awareness and capacity-building among the concerned officials, and the lack of clarity in the laws themselves on the administrative accountability with regard to the granting of probation, according to BLAST, a human rights organisation.