Ordinance banning the privilege would not be made law
Shakhawat Liton
Lawmakers of the ninth parliament might get back the controversial privilege of importing duty-free cars as the ordinance promulgated by the immediate past caretaker government scrapping the opportunity is unlikely to be ratified.
The ordinance was not among the 44 short listed ones that are to be tabled soon in parliament as bills for ratification. Talking to a number of members of the special committee that recommended the short list, it was learnt that the fate of the ordinance is almost decided although the committee did not discuss it formally.
The common sentiment of the committee members is against ratifying it to make into a law. They argued that the caretaker government does not have the jurisdiction to promulgate an ordinance to curtail lawmakers’ facilities.
“Only parliament has the constitutional jurisdiction to determine the remuneration and privileges of lawmakers,” one member said, referring to article 68 of the constitution. He said parliament should rather bring amendment to the order inserting new provisions to stop misuse of the facilities.
A few more ordinances out of the remaining 78, which are awaiting scrutiny, might be recommended for being placed in parliament as bills for ratification, the members said.
In June 2007, the army-backed caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed repealed the provision that provides lawmakers with facilities under the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Allowances) Order 1973 on grounds of gross misuse in the past.
If the ordinance is not ratified in 30 days from January 25, when it was placed in parliament, it will cease to have effect and the previous system will be reinstated.
According to the provision of the law, an MP is entitled to import free from customs duty, sales tax, development surcharge and import permit fee during the whole term in office, one car or jeep of such specification, and on such conditions, as the government may specify in his behalf.
The provision was introduced on May 24, 1987 during the rule of HM Ershad and was amended on August 28, 2002, with retrospective effect from July 1 that year.
Exercising the provision, lawmakers of the eighth parliament imported over 275 luxury cars, depriving the National Board of Revenue of taxes over Tk 280 crore. Taxes for most of these luxurious cars range from 73.91 percent to 196.10 percent, according to board officials.
Most MPs sold each of the cars to businessmen for Tk 10-25 lakh and selling BMW, Cadillac and Porsche cars, they made at least Tk 50 crore during the tenure of the eighth parliament.
The law, however, does not allow sales of these cars within three years of purchase.
Of these luxury vehicles, each of the 55 BMW cars was sold for up to Tk 84 lakh, 40 Mercedes-Benz cars and jeeps for Tk 1.18 crore and Tk 73 lakh, 10 Porsche cars for highest Tk 3 crore, 23 Lexus cars and jeeps for Tk 45 lakh and Tk 47 lakh, 16 Range Rover SUVs for Tk 54 lakh, four Cadillac cars for Tk 50 lakh, four Hummer SUVs for Tk 91 lakh, 42 Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs for around Tk 35 lakh, three Lincoln Navigator SUVs for up to Tk 50 lakh, three Infinity cars for Tk 40 lakh, 37 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 SUVs for Tk 25 lakh, and 17 Nissan Patrol and Nissan Pathfinder SUVs for Tk 31 lakh.
For their personal use the lawmakers, however, seem to prefer low-cost cars.
A number of companies that sell luxury cars in Bangladesh were involved in buying out the permits of these vehicles. A cartel of four distributors alone bought permits from 200 MPs, sources said. These companies later sold the cars to local businessmen with a good amount of profit.
The joint forces during the rule of the last caretaker government seized a number of luxurious cars from businessmen.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
