Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday categorically said the government did not interfere in Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) activities related to the launching of a probe against six senior officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
“Definitely, there is no interference from the government side,” Dr Salehuddin said.
The Finance Adviser made the remark while responding to a question after officially announcing the successful completion of the budget preparation for 72 institutions for the current year using the State-Owned Enterprises (SoE) and Autonomous Bodies (AB) Budget, Reporting and Evaluation Database (SABRE+) at his Finance Division office.
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The ACC on Sunday launched the probe on what they called ‘on charges of corruption, abuse of power and nepotism in facilitating illegal benefits for individuals and institutions over the past two decades.’
The six officials under investigation are: AKM Badiul Alam, Member (Income Tax Policy); Mirza Ashiq Rana, Additional Tax Commissioner, Tax Zone-8, Dhaka; Mohammad Morshed Uddin Khan, Joint Tax Commissioner, BCS Tax Academy; Monalisa Shahreen Sushmita, Deputy Tax Commissioner, Tax Zone-16, Dhaka; Hasan Tarek Rikabdar, Additional Commissioner, Audit, Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, VAT, Dhaka; and Sadhan Kumar Kundu, Additional Commissioner, Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Dhaka (South).
The Finance Adviser, however, said there is reason to consider why the investigation has started at such a time when they are in a protest programme. “But this is not only in NBR, there are so many people around the country against whom the ACC is running their investigations,” he said.
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Among the six people, Hasan Tarek serves as the president of the NBR Reform Unity Parishad, which was leading a movement seeking structural reform of the board instead of its dissolution.
According to the ACC, the officials allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for reducing tax liabilities and, in some cases, filed false cases against business owners when demands for bribes were not met.
The Adviser said the revenue loss that happened due to the agitation programmes was just ‘unfortunate.’ “This is not acceptable at all, you might have a problem with the government, but it does not mean you will shut down a national service,” he said.
He also mentioned that shutting down ports is not acceptable as these entities are not a private property. “And you are paid by the government,” he added.
The Finance Adviser said the government has formed a five-member adviser-level committee to suggest ways to resolve the stalemate centering the reforms in the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The committee will be led by Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan while the other members included Housing and Public Works Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Labour and Employment Adviser Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin.
“They will place their recommendations and we will look into those,” he said.
He also urged NBR officials and employees to work with sincerity to offset the revenue shortfall caused by their protest programmes.