At a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on telecommunications ministry, AL lawmakers gave a note of dissent to the bill and said that the law will be misused.

The standing committee, with majority consent of the ruling party members, finalised the bill for passage. Post and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Haque piloted the bill in the Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday.

During the scrutiny at the standing committee yesterday, AL lawmakers Abdul Hye and Panchanan Biswas said the law would severely hamper private life of the people as well as curb their freedom of speech.

"People will be afraid of using telephones which will also affect the growing telecommunication sector of the country," Abdul Hye told newsmen.

The AL lawmaker quoting his meeting statement said, "Those in charge of tapping telephonic conversation will become corrupt and will start blackmailing the innocent people."

A meeting source said BNP lawmaker and member of the committee Mehedi Ahmed Rumi also said there are possibilities of corruption and misuse of the law by those who will tap conversations. He suggested including a protection clause in the bill to avert such misuse.

In response, the telecommunications minister said there is nothing to be worried about. "If someone is involved in such ill-practice, we will have amendment to check the crime," he assured the members.

QUORUM CRISIS
The Jatiya Sangsad yesterday witnessed an acute quorum crisis thanks to the absence of most ruling party lawmakers including the front bench members.

The session began 35 minutes late as 60 lawmakers, needed for the quorum, were not present in the 345-member parliament. The proceedings resumed 25 minutes late after the Maghrib prayer break.