BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday said that the speaker of the parliament has no right to form a probe body to investigate into corruption allegation against the former speaker, deputy speaker and chief whip. Delwar cited section 76 of the Constitution and Rules of Procedure in support of his contention.

"The speaker cannot form such a committee as per rules and it is totally illegal,' said Delwar while commenting to reporters at the party's central office at Nayapaltan in the city on the decision of parliament to send ducuments to Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for recovering money from them. The committee was formed only to defame us in a baseless allegation, the former chief whip said adding "complainants and judges are same which is unprecendented in the history of parliamentary democracy". Committees could be formed by the speaker according to section 271 of Rules of Procedure and Section 76 of the Constitution where parliamentary committee was absent, he added.

The BNP secretary general said the nationalist forces to be reorganised through BNP council and would give a befitting reply to the present autocratic and non-democratic government. Asked whether they would file a defemation case or not, Khandaker Delwar said, they will take initiatives after the end of the drama of the parliamentary committee. BNP leaders MK Anwar and Mirza Abbas were present. The parliamentary committee was formed on March 19 this year to conduct an enquiry into the alleged corruption of former Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, Deputy Speaker Abdul Hamid Siddique and chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain in the parliament secretariat in the last seven years till Abdul Hamid assumed the office ofs speaker.

-New Nation