& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Cabinet sends back free anti-corruption body draft bill

Debate over inclusion of army in elite anti-crime force

Staff Correspondent
The cabinet yesterday did not approve formation of an independent anti-corruption commission and sent a draft bill in this regard to the Secretariat Committee on Administrative Development (SCAD) for scrutiny.
One of the election pledges of the ruling BNP, the issue of anticorruption body is being discussed for the last one and a half years. Donors make it a prime condition for a balance of payment loan and
tagged an April deadline to approve the bill.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs placed the draft bill for the formation of the anti-corruption commission.
The cabinet stressed the need for it, although it sent the draft bill to the secretariat committee. The committee would examine the current set-up and laws of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC), fate of its staff in case of the formation of the commission as well as
merger of the BAC with the commission and submit a report to the cabinet committee on the proposed body.
But the cabinet did not give the SCAD a deadline which may delay the process.
The cabinet also expressed strong reservations about a home ministry proposal to form an elite force bringing together retired and serving army men with greater authority. After a long and heated debate on the Rapid Action Battalion proposal, the cabinet that sat at the Prime Minister's Office with Khaleda Zia in the chair, returned it for scrutiny for a second time.
Most cabinet members took a dim view of the proposal that requires the passage of a legislation, empowerment of RAB-men as officer-in-charge of police stations to investigate cases.
The Ministry of Home Affairs first proposed amendment to the Armed Police Battalion Ordinance, 1979 to bring RAB, currently known as Rapid Action Team (RAT), under its cover as an elite force on April 28 for cabinet approval.
Sources said the home ministry placed a harsher version of the RAB proposal in yesterday's meeting that raised the hackles of most cabinet members.
They said although the cabinet agreed to form an alternative force in principle on grounds of failure of existing law-enforcement agencies, they were highly critical of the greater authority vested in the force in the new proposal.
The cabinet members feared that excessive authority to the force would lead to abuse of power by its
members.
Currently, 11 RAT teams, each comprised of 12 highly trained policemen, are tackling sensational and exceptional cases of murder, taka forgery and notorious gangsters in the capital.
An assistant police commissioner is heading each team while a deputy police commissioner is leading the force.
The cabinet also discussed the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and approved its presentation at the Development Forum meeting slated for May 16-18.
The meeting also approved Section 35A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 that deals with damages for filing false cases.