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Speaker asks JS body to go ahead with ACC issue

Commission has to respond to committee's call, say parliamentary experts

SHAKHAWAT LlTON and RASHIDUL HASAN
Speaker Abdul Hamid yesterday asked the Committee on Public Undertakings to decide on the next course of action regarding the Anti-Corruption Commission's refusal to appear before it
His directive came as Parliament Secretariat । officials contacted him after receiving a letter i from the anti-graft body, said sources. The speaker, custodian of the House, said if necessary’, he would intervene.
Committee Chairman Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said they would make a decision on the matteron April 12.
Earlier on April 7 the committee, mandated to examine the working of the public undertakings specified in the rules of procedure of parliament, sent a letter to the commission to appear before it on April 12.
The topics set for discussions include the commission's latest annual and audit Reports, and- activities^ and problems.
The ACC in its letter said the parliamentary committee does not have jurisdiction to send for its commissioners or officials.
Experts on parliamentary affairs however opine quite the opposite. They say the ACC's tailure to attend the committee's meeting will amount to contempt of parliament.
Former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, former law ministers Moudud Ahmed and Abdul Matin Khasru, and former cabinet secretary MK Anwar-all members of current parliament- made the observations talking to The Daily Star yesterday.
They said the ACC has misinterpreted the jurisdiction of the Committee on Public Undertakings.
Contacted, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed said he has yet to examine the matter.
Sources close to the parlia-mentary body said the committee had consulted the constitutional experts and examined the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad before deciding to delve into the last two years' anticorruption drive by the ACC.
Sircar, who has recently been elected to parliament in a by-election, said any parliamentary committee including that on public undertakings has the authority to scrutinise deeds of any organisation run on public money.
"Organisations that receive money from state coffers are subject to parliamentary scrutiny, be they autonomous or semi-autonomous."
The former speaker also said like a court of law, a parliamentary body has the power to ensure attendance of anyone who has received its summons.
BNP lawmaker Moudud Ahmed, who piloted the bill on formation and functions of the anti-graft body in 2004, said the ACC's rationale for the decision not to appear before the public undertakings committee is unacceptable.
He said the parliamentary committee can summon any functionaries receiving salaries or other benefits from the public exchequer.
"Parliament is the sovereign authority, and every public functionary is accountable to it. Institutions formed by laws and financed by the government are obliged to comply with such summons. It will be prudent on the ACC's part to attend the committee meeting," Moudud observed.
Abdul Matin Khasru, who held the law portfolio during the previous AL government, said there should lie no doubt' about the public undertakings committee's authority to see if the ACC has been functioning properly and fairly. People have the right to know under whose pressure the ACC filed false corruption cases against two former prime ministers, he continued. ' r
"They [ACC] did some good work, but at the same time they harassed many innocent people too.”
BNP leader MK Anwar said the parliamentary committees are considered miniparliament. The legislature authorises them to ensure the executive's accountability to it.
"Like parliament, its committees are also sovereign. To discharge duties, they can summon anyone to appear before them with documents or information,” said Anwar, also former agriculture minister.
The ACC has got to cooperate with the parliamentary committee. Defying the committee's notice will be tantamount to contempt of parliament, he added.
Meanwhile, eminent lawyer Rafioue-ul Huq said the ACC might have to face contempt proceedings if it does not show up at the public undertakings committee meeting.
He was speaking to desh.tv, a private television channel.