Chief Whip Abdus Shahid yesterday said he would return Tk 1 lakh he had taken from the Parliament Members' Club adding that a team was constituted to audit the income and expenditure of the club in the last seven years.
Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque who took Tk 3 lakh from the club during the past BNP-Jamaat alliance government, however, said he would not return the money claiming that he took it as per the rules.
Talking to reporters at his office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban Shahid, also the present chief of the club, said a three-member audit team led by lawmaker Abdul Kuddus would verify the matter.
He said the team was asked to come up with the audit report by June. “The audit team will examine whether the recipients took the money as per the rules or not,” Shahid added.
Former chief whip of the club Khandaker Delwar Hossain took Tk 18 lakh, former whip Syed Wahidul Alam, who was secretary of the club, received Tk 4 lakh from the club for medical treatment.
Besides, the then executive committee of the club donated over Tk 40 lakh more to different individuals including former lawmakers.
Talking to reporters yesterday at Shahid's office, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Jewel, joint secretary of the club, said the club can usually donate up to Tk 1 lakh to an individual.
“But the abnormal amount of donations have tarnished the image of the club,” Saifuzzaman said referring to the money taken by Delwar and Wahidul.
Chief Whip Shahid said he applied to the members' club for Tk 5 lakh in December of 2002 for his medical treatment. The club, however, sanctioned him Tk 1 lakh, he added.
Talking to reporters on the Parliament building premises, Opposition Chief Whip Farroque at first denied taking any money from the members' club during the tenure of the last parliament.
When his attention was drawn to the list that shows that he also took money, Farroque then gave in and said he took Tk 50,000.
Meanwhile, the all-party parliamentary probe body formed to look into alleged corruption in the parliament secretariat in the last seven years said the House would determine the fates of the former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, his deputy Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui and former chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
The probe body yesterday at its meeting deferred the date of appearance of Jamiruddin, Akhtar Hamid and Delwar before the committee to defend themselves.
Earlier the committee fixed June 10 for their appearance but now it has deferred the date, as the national budget would be placed in parliament the following day.
They will be summoned after we fix a new date, he added.
"It is the House who will determine fates of the trio once they are found guilty in the investigation,” advocate Fazle Rabbi Mia told reporters after the meeting at the parliament building.
Meanwhile, the sub-committee to investigate alleged anomalies in procurement at the parliament secretariat during the last seven years yesterday submitted its report to the main committee.
The committee chief Fazle Rabbi Mia denied disclosing the recommendations and findings of the sub-committee.