The rejoinder signed by Md Tarique Mahmood, assistant director of the Public Relations section of the Parliament Secretariat, is as follows:

Attention has been drawn to the Commentary written by the editor Mr Mahfuz Anam himself under caption "When a Speaker speaks he unspeakable - Sircar's personal undertaking proves that he was doubtful about the legality of his own action" published today in your Daily "The Daily Star" at the middle of front page.

Analysis and conclusion about the supremacy of Jatiya Sangsad Sachibalaya Ain, 1994 is legally not sustainable because the Act of Parliament is supreme unless it is amended or repealed. To deny it amounts to denying the undeniable.

It is undeniable that the Hon'ble Speaker has upheld the dignity, honour and prestige of the sacred Parliament and his high position as Speaker for the last five years. It is unprecedented that he is the only Speaker who held this high office continuously and successfully for five years ever since 1947.

The news of workshop of Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC) in South Asia is vital and more important. So, the news should have been prominent instead of the news of any medical bill. By pointing out this, it can't be assumed by any stretch of imagination that the Hon'ble Speaker has undermined the high office of Speaker.

Now coming to the allocation of budgetary fund, sections 18, 9 and 14 of Jatiya Sangsad Sachibalaya Ain, 1994, the law has been explained and clarified in his early two rejoinders. In every office and institution, where the head is the Principal Disbursing Officer, it is his duty to disburse money since there is none above him to do it under the Act. It is worth mentioning that the amount Tk 35,71,192 to late Hon'ble Mr Humayun Rasheed Chouwdhury for kidney treatment and Tk 5,74,000 to ex-Chief Whip Abul Hasnat Abdullah were paid from the Sangsad Sachibalaya fund. Had it not been so, the money from Sangsad Sachibalaya fund would not have been paid.

Going back to the undertaking/guarantee to repay the money if authority i.e. the Parliament and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the interpreting authority of the Act gives a decision, that the Hon'ble Speaker shall abide by it, is a clear submission to the rule of law which the Hon'ble Speaker firmly believes in and upholds. And that he has been upholding Rule of Law ever since his enrolment as a lawyer in 1960 for the last 47 years.

The Hon'ble Speaker hopes that the matter should end here without further controversy. It is hoped that in the interest of fair and impartial journalism, this rejoinder be published at the same place of the front page of your esteemed daily.