In a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the cabinet also approved Micro-credit Regulatory Authority (MCRA) Act, 2006, and bills on cable TV operation, and accreditation.

The proposed contempt of court legislation if enacted will permit newspapers to publish news; constructive criticism and features on the way judges conduct their personal lives. It also permits the media factual criticism of the appeal cases.

In the approved bill, contempt of court has been specifically defined.

Contempt charges can be brought against any person for intentionally defying or ignoring or showing disrespect to any court's verdict, decree, or order by any written or oral expression or gestures or visual means.

The draft law provides for a maximum six months of jail and a fine of Tk 5,000 as punishment for committing contempt. However, an accused will be able to secure bail on paying a bond until passing of a judgement.

Law Minister Moudud Ahmed had earlier told the press that the courts still act on 80-year-old Contempt of Courts Act-1926, which is incomplete and hence creating confusion for not being well defined.

The government employees in the proposed law will not lose their jobs immediately after they are alleged of wrongdoing. In the bill the responsibility has been given to the government to acquit or punish government officials.

Meanwhile, sources said government earlier amended the Public Servants Act (Dismissal on Conviction), 1985 to save government officials from losing their jobs. Any accused would only lose his or her job if the official was fined more than Tk 10,000. The amount was Tk 1,000 earlier.

In the contempt of court bill the highest punishment one could get is Tk 5,000 or six-month imprisonment or both. Earlier this was Tk 2,000 or six-month imprisonment.

Legal experts said the two acts suggest it has been made to save the government officials as the Contempt of Court Act cannot fine them more than Tk 5,000.

Another expert said the existence of these two bills together would demean the court and government officials would be encouraged to ignore courts and hamper the courts in exercising.

The cabinet-approved Micro-credit Regulatory Authority (MCRA) Act, 2006 has not included the proposal for opening small banks in the rural areas and incorporated a provision for microcredit irregularities to be dealt with at the criminal courts.

A previous draft of the MCRA act had the proposal for opening small banks in the rural areas. But the government did not okay it, thinking that overnight emergence of hundreds of banks might make it hard for them to handle those.

The government-run microcredit programme will be outside the purview of the just approved draft of MCRA act.

According to the draft, violators of the MCRA act will be sentenced to a maximum one-year imprisonment and fined Tk five lakh.

The Bangladesh Bank governor will be chairman of the MCRA board while the government will select six officials or individuals as members of the board. An executive vice-chairman will be made chief executive officer of MCRA.

UNB adds: The cabinet yesterday approved the draft of the Cable Television Operation Act 2006 to ensure cable-television network programmes run "in conformity with the social, cultural and religious values of the country".

According to sources, the new law is being made to regulate the airing of various unauthorised, confusing and immoral programmes on cable TVs.

Besides, the Bangladesh Accreditation Act 2006 was okayed to facilitate development of an accreditation system for national laboratories, capable of ensuring regional and multinational recognition and acceptability of conformity-assessment certificates.