The law was passed in 1974 to replace the repealed Security Act of Pakistan,1952, the Public Safety Ordinance of 1958 and the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972.

[2] Bangladesh Nationalist Party maintained it when they came to power despite promising to remove it in their election manifesto.

[5] Bangladesh High Court ordered police to stop using the section since it was removed through an act of parliament.

[6] In December 2020, Bangladesh Police charged four under the act for vandalizing a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

[4][10] An editorial in The Daily Star described the law as "draconian" used by governments to harass their political opponents.