The ad hoc Public Accounts Committee (PAC) created by the caretaker government in December last year to scrutinise reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is now about to being cancelled as it 'violates the constitution'.
With the consent of President Iajuddin Ahmed, the finance ministry formed the ad hoc PAC on December 18 to scrutinise audit reports on government accounts in absence of a parliament.
But the ad hoc PAC is yet to begin functioning as objections were raised from different quarters including the speaker of the last parliament saying that the constitution does not allow anyone other than an elected parliament to form the committee, sources in the finance ministry said.
In the wake of the criticism, the finance ministry is now pondering cancellation of the circular that declared the formation of the ad hoc PAC, a senior official of the ministry told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
Sensing that the committee could not be effective due to the legal debate, the finance ministry did not move to reconstitute the committee following resignation of its chairman, the erstwhile law adviser to the government, in early January of this year, the senior official added.
Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar has been opposing the government move to form the ad hoc committee from the very beginning.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, the speaker said he again sent his legal opinion over a week ago to the government saying the formation of the ad hoc PAC contradicts with the constitution which authorises only a parliament to form a PAC and other such committees, comprising only its members.
"Duties of elected lawmakers cannot be discharged by non-elected persons. Functions of the committee [ad hoc PAC] will be illegal," Sircar said.
Sources in the office of CAG and finance ministry said the military backed caretaker government formed the ad hoc PAC on suggestion of the World Bank and the CAG office.
But, CAG officials said they objected to the inclusion of incumbent government secretaries as members in the committee. The ad hoc PAC has three incumbent secretaries as its members.
CAG officials said incumbent government secretaries cannot be members of a PAC that investigates financial irregularities in government ministries and other government organisations. For the same reason, no incumbent minister can also be a member of a PAC, they added.
After the formation of the ad hoc PAC on December 18, its member secretary, Mahbub Ahmed who is also an additional secretary to the finance ministry, held an informal meeting with officials of CAG in an effort to start the operations of the committee, CAG officials said.
Another ad hoc PAC was formed earlier on October 19, 1983. The erstwhile chief martial law administrator (CMLA) formed the committee with the then law minister KA Bakar as its head. The then CMLA did not face any obstacle in forming that ad hoc PAC since the constitution was suspended back then. But now, under the current state of emergency the constitution is not suspended, the CAG officials said.
With the dissolution of the eighth parliament on October 27 of last year the immediate past PAC was also dissolved. A new parliament was supposed to be formed following the January 22 general elections, which was stalled due to a political crisis that is still plaguing the country.
Now a new parliament is expected to be formed in early 2009, as the stalled election is scheduled to be held on the third week of December this year. So, resumption of PAC's activity is unlikely in the next eight months.
In absence of a PAC, the number of unresolved audit reports involving hundreds of crores of taka, and the cases of retired government officials who are not getting their pensions due to unsettled objections, are increasing. Moreover, recovery of public money that might have been misappropriated has also been stalling.
HOW AD HOC PAC WAS FORMED
Following the World Bank's advice, the office of CAG in July last year sent a proposal to the finance ministry to form the ad hoc PAC. It however asked the finance ministry to consult with the law ministry as the formation of it had legal matters involved.
CAG is authorised to audit all the income and expenditure of the government, and reports it to the parliament through the president, and PAC adjudicates all objections to the audit reports.
CAG suggested the government last year to form an ad hoc PAC comprising former justices, former government officials, academics, and politicians.
The law ministry also okayed the formation of an ad hoc PAC, and the finance ministry formed the committee headed by the then law adviser Mainul Hosein, sources in the finance ministry said.
The other ten members of the ad hoc PAC are the incumbent director general of National Security Intelligence, incumbent secretary to the Parliament Secretariat, incumbent secretary to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division of planning ministry, incumbent chairman of the National Board of Revenue, an incumbent additional secretary to the Finance Division of finance ministry, incumbent president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, former president of Dhaka District Bar Association Fakir Delwar Hossain, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Farhad Hossain, and Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman who was the chief of Power and Participation Research Centre before becoming an adviser to the caretaker government.
With the consent of President Iajuddin Ahmed, the finance ministry formed the ad hoc PAC on December 18 to scrutinise audit reports on government accounts in absence of a parliament.
But the ad hoc PAC is yet to begin functioning as objections were raised from different quarters including the speaker of the last parliament saying that the constitution does not allow anyone other than an elected parliament to form the committee, sources in the finance ministry said.
In the wake of the criticism, the finance ministry is now pondering cancellation of the circular that declared the formation of the ad hoc PAC, a senior official of the ministry told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
Sensing that the committee could not be effective due to the legal debate, the finance ministry did not move to reconstitute the committee following resignation of its chairman, the erstwhile law adviser to the government, in early January of this year, the senior official added.
Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar has been opposing the government move to form the ad hoc committee from the very beginning.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, the speaker said he again sent his legal opinion over a week ago to the government saying the formation of the ad hoc PAC contradicts with the constitution which authorises only a parliament to form a PAC and other such committees, comprising only its members.
"Duties of elected lawmakers cannot be discharged by non-elected persons. Functions of the committee [ad hoc PAC] will be illegal," Sircar said.
Sources in the office of CAG and finance ministry said the military backed caretaker government formed the ad hoc PAC on suggestion of the World Bank and the CAG office.
But, CAG officials said they objected to the inclusion of incumbent government secretaries as members in the committee. The ad hoc PAC has three incumbent secretaries as its members.
CAG officials said incumbent government secretaries cannot be members of a PAC that investigates financial irregularities in government ministries and other government organisations. For the same reason, no incumbent minister can also be a member of a PAC, they added.
After the formation of the ad hoc PAC on December 18, its member secretary, Mahbub Ahmed who is also an additional secretary to the finance ministry, held an informal meeting with officials of CAG in an effort to start the operations of the committee, CAG officials said.
Another ad hoc PAC was formed earlier on October 19, 1983. The erstwhile chief martial law administrator (CMLA) formed the committee with the then law minister KA Bakar as its head. The then CMLA did not face any obstacle in forming that ad hoc PAC since the constitution was suspended back then. But now, under the current state of emergency the constitution is not suspended, the CAG officials said.
With the dissolution of the eighth parliament on October 27 of last year the immediate past PAC was also dissolved. A new parliament was supposed to be formed following the January 22 general elections, which was stalled due to a political crisis that is still plaguing the country.
Now a new parliament is expected to be formed in early 2009, as the stalled election is scheduled to be held on the third week of December this year. So, resumption of PAC's activity is unlikely in the next eight months.
In absence of a PAC, the number of unresolved audit reports involving hundreds of crores of taka, and the cases of retired government officials who are not getting their pensions due to unsettled objections, are increasing. Moreover, recovery of public money that might have been misappropriated has also been stalling.
HOW AD HOC PAC WAS FORMED
Following the World Bank's advice, the office of CAG in July last year sent a proposal to the finance ministry to form the ad hoc PAC. It however asked the finance ministry to consult with the law ministry as the formation of it had legal matters involved.
CAG is authorised to audit all the income and expenditure of the government, and reports it to the parliament through the president, and PAC adjudicates all objections to the audit reports.
CAG suggested the government last year to form an ad hoc PAC comprising former justices, former government officials, academics, and politicians.
The law ministry also okayed the formation of an ad hoc PAC, and the finance ministry formed the committee headed by the then law adviser Mainul Hosein, sources in the finance ministry said.
The other ten members of the ad hoc PAC are the incumbent director general of National Security Intelligence, incumbent secretary to the Parliament Secretariat, incumbent secretary to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division of planning ministry, incumbent chairman of the National Board of Revenue, an incumbent additional secretary to the Finance Division of finance ministry, incumbent president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, former president of Dhaka District Bar Association Fakir Delwar Hossain, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Farhad Hossain, and Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman who was the chief of Power and Participation Research Centre before becoming an adviser to the caretaker government.