Speaker differs with state minister
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury yesterday opposed the view of the state minister for home affairs that her permission was needed to arrest sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique.
“There is no need to take my permission for arresting a lawmaker outside the parliament premises,” she said at her office in the Jatiya Sangsad when reporters drew her attention to the statement of State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan.
Asaduzzaman told the media at his office in the Secretariat that law enforcement agencies could not arrest lawmaker Latif Siddique on his return home from India Sunday night since parliamentary session was going on and Speaker's permission was required to arrest him as he was still an MP.
Latif has been removed from the cabinet and the ruling Awami League following his controversial comments on Hajj and Tablighi Jamaat.
The rules of procedure of parliament clearly mention that Speaker's permission is required for arresting an MP on the parliament premises, Shirin Sharmin said.
Parliament premises mean the House chamber, lobby, gallery and the parliament boundary determined by the Speaker, according to the rules of procedure.
If any lawmaker is arrested outside parliament for criminal offences or if they are punished by a court, the Speaker should be informed officially. The Speaker will then pass the information to the House if parliament is in session.
Asked whether she received any letter asking her to quash Latif's membership in parliament, the Speaker said she had not.
Meanwhile, opposition Jatiya Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and two independent MPs last night lambasted law enforcement agencies for not arresting Latif though several arrest warrants had already been issued for him.
Taking the floor on a point of order, they demanded that the government arrest him immediately and give him exemplary punishment.
JP MP Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, independent MPs Hazi Selim and Rustom Ali Farazi, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP AKM Rezaul Karim Tansen and Bangladesh Nationalist Front chief Abul Kamal Azad also demanded that the Speaker scrap Latif's membership in parliament.
In response, AL senior MP Sutranjit Sengupta said law would take its own course in time and proper manner regarding the issue.
He warned vested quarters not to do any politics or crate political instability in the country using this issue.
On Latif's return to the country, Suranjit said he was not declared persona-non-grata and that he had valid documents to return home.
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