Delwar flouted rules to draw Tk 6 lakh
A parliamentary sub-committee yesterday revealed that former chief whip of parliament Khandaker Delwar Hossain had drawn a Tk 6 lakh medical bill flouting the law.
The sub-committee probing allegation of corruption against Jamiruddin Sircar, former speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, found that he 'illegally' and 'wrongly' approved the medical bill submitted by Delwar, now BNP secretary general, and another amounted to Tk 1.21 lakh by former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui.
The former speaker approved Delwar's medical bill ignoring government rules and the then premier Khaleda Zia's decision against it.
The sub-committee would ask Jamiruddin Sircar, Akhtar Hamid and Delwar to return the money to the state exchequer, said Brig Gen (retd) SK Abu Bakr, chief of the sub-committee.
"We shall also make recommendation to the all-party parliamentary probe body to request the government to take legal action against them," he said.
"After conducting enquiry into the medical bills, it is clear to us that former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar drew a Tk 27.86 lakh medical bill illegally ignoring the head of the government's decision of not approving the bill," Bakr told reporters at the parliament building after a meeting of the sub-committee.
"We found that former chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain illegally drew a Tk 6 lakh medical bill. Former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar unlawfully approved it through wrong interpretation of law although the then premier refused to approve it," he said.
The sub-committee chief said before approving the bill, Sircar took an undertaking from Delwar's son and daughter that they would pay back the money if anyone raises question about it or the Supreme Court issues directives to return the money.
"We have enquired into various medical bills of previous years but we did not find such precedent in approving medical bills," Bakr added.
Referring to former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui's medical bill, the sub-committee chief said, he received treatment in Moscow in January, 2008 and drew a Tk 1.21 lakh medical bill, which was required to be approved by the head of government.
"But the former speaker approved the bill that he was not entitled to do as per the law," Bakr said.
Speaker Abdul Hamid on March 19 formed an all-party parliamentary probe body to investigate the allegations of corruption, misuse of power and financial anomalies against Jamiruddin Sircar.
He also directed the committee to probe corruption and irregularities in the parliament secretariat in the last seven years.
The main committee on April 13 formed three sub-committees headed by SK Abu Bakr, Shajahan Khan and Mujibul Haq to enquire into the matters thoroughly.
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