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Download PDF Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar drew a medical allowance of about Tk 28 lakh from Parliament Secretariat giving a written undertaking in July last year as he approved the bill on his own, ignoring the secretariat’s objections.
Using his power, Sircar submitted his medical bills for treatment abroad with the secretariat and he himself ‘decided’ to approve the payment. He would return the money if it is proved unlawful by any competent authorities, Sircar said in the undertaking.
“I have decided to pay the medical bill in good faith and on my honest understanding of law. I will obey any order of the Supreme Court if anybody in future takes legal action against the payment,” Jamiruddin said in the undertaking, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Star.
The Speaker apparently came up with the ‘guarantee letter’, as the law did not allow him to approve the bill for his medical check-up in May last year during his two week-long study tour in Singapore and London with the financial support of Parliament Secretariat and a UNDP project for strengthening parliamentary democracy, officials in the Parliament Secretariat said.
The Speaker, the custodian of the Jatiya Sangsad, got the expenditure for his medical check-up approved through ‘exercising’ his power although the then prime minister Khaleda Zia did not approve it.
Clause 12 of the Special Medical Attendance Rules 1950 categorically says only the government can grant any amount of money to a person for his or her treatment.
”Nothing in these rules be construed as preventing the government from granting to any person to whom they apply any concession relating to medical treatment or attendance which is not authorised by these rules,” says the rules.
But Jamiruddin Sircar claimed that by parity of reasoning the Speaker is the final authority to approve money through exercising Clause 12 of the Special Medical Attendance Rules.
A former speaker and a former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) however termed the Speaker’s actions regarding withdrawal of the medical allowance unlawful and unethical.
“The speaker has ignored the laws by approving his medical bill. He cannot take the medical bill in such an unprecedented way,” immediate past Speaker advocate Abdul Hamid told The Daily Star.
Sircar has approved the medical bill unethically, former CAG M Hafizuddin Khan said, adding, “The Speaker will have to return the money to the government exchequer since he can in no way approve this medical bill.”
In the seventh parliament the office of the CAG had objected to such a medical allowance, which was approved by the then speaker late Humayun Rashid Chowdhury, he said.
But this time, the office of the Controller General of Accounts, which was separated from the office of the CAG during the tenure of the last BNP government, did not raise any objection to the Speaker’s medical allowance. An official entrusted with looking after the accounts of the Jatiya Sangsad said they had cleared the bill on receiving the Speaker’s undertaking.
“The Parliament Secretariat sent the undertaking to us and we cleared the bill,” said an official.
Officials in the Parliament Secretariat said they had initially objected to the bill, as the existing laws do not allow the Speaker to have the medical bill for his treatment abroad without prior permission of the prime minister.
But Sircar on July 7, 2006 came up with a written undertaking and guarantee that he would be responsible for paying the bill, if any question is raised in future.
On receiving the written undertaking and instructions, the Parliament Secretariat cleared a medical bill of Tk 27.86 lakh, said the officials.
On other occasions also, the speaker withdrew good amounts of money in the name of his medical allowances, said a source in the Parliament Secretariat.
SPEAKER’S UNDERTAKING
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Remuneration and Privileges) Act 1974 says other allowances and facilities of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker shall be the same as admissible to a minister under the act of 1973, Jamiruddin Sircar said in his undertaking.
Being the chief of the executive, the prime minister gives approval for some medical facilities outside the country for a minister, if necessary, he said.
Sircar said exercising the provision 12 of the Special Medical Attendance Rules 1950, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina during the seventh parliament approved Tk 35.71 lakh for the then speaker Humayun Rashid Chowdhury’s kidney treatment abroad.
The prime minister also approved Tk 5.74 lakh for treatment of the then chief whip Abul Hasnat Abdullah, he continued.
Referring to the prime minister’s approval for former chief whip’s treatment, former CAG Hafizuddin said his office had raised objection to the medical bill of Hasnat Abdullah as the then Speaker of the seventh parliament approved it.
Later, the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina had approved the bill by exercising the relevant rules, Hafizuddin said referring to the Special Medical Attendance Rules.
Jamiruddin Sircar himself mentioned that the then prime minister Khaleda Zia had approved special medical allowances for the VVIPs in eighth Jatiya Sangsad, but the prime minister did not accord approval for his medical expenditure abroad.
In such a situation, the speaker claimed, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was informed of the matter and the PMO suggested settling it according to the Jatiya Sangsad law 1994. “It seems the prime minister does not want to exercise her power in this regard,” goes Sircar’s undertaking.
The Jatiya Sangsad Act 1994 does not contain any provisions regarding medical allowances for the Speaker or any lawmakers.
The act however says the Speaker will be the final authority regarding the expenditure of the Parliament Secretariat’s annual budget. Jamiruddin Sircar exercised this power also to clear his medical bill.
The Speaker is the final authority regarding the Parliament Secretariat’s annual budget and he will be responsible to the parliament through the office of the CAG, said the Speaker in his undertaking.
EXPERT OPINION
Asked whether or not the Speaker can approve such medical bill to meet the expenditure of his treatment abroad, former Speaker Abdul Hamid said the Speaker is entitled to an annual medical allowance of Tk 2 lakh in the country. But to have the money, he will have to submit copy of the bills and vouchers in the Parliament Secretariat, he said.
“If the Speaker wants to have medical treatment abroad, he will have to bear the expenditure himself, unless he falls sick during an official visit abroad. The prime minister however can allocate a special amount of money for the Speaker’s treatment abroad,” Hamid said, referring to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Remuneration and Privileges) Act.
Terming the Speaker’s action unprecedented, Hafizuddin, also a former adviser to the caretaker government, said if the Speaker’s activities raise questions due to lack of transparency, then how the Jatiya Sangsad will ensure transparency and accountability of the government.
This correspondent in last two days repeatedly tried to contact the Speaker over telephone, but failed as his personal staff, both at his residence and office, replied each time that the Speaker was busy.
It was not possible to visit the Speaker’s office to talk to him due to restrictions on journalists’ entry into the parliament building. The Speaker imposed the restriction about three months ago following newspaper reports about irregularities in the Parliament Secretariat.
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