Dhaka: The Law Minister on Thursday informed Parliament that the process of printing copies of all previous laws, while introducing the 133 ordinances issued by the interim government as bills, will incur a cost of approximately Tk 12 lakh.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman revealed that producing copies of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) alone would require about Tk 7 lakh. He made these comments during a point of order after the special committee’s report on reviewing ordinances was submitted to Parliament.
The Law Minister emphasized that providing photocopies of all previous laws alongside the ordinances would be financially burdensome. As an alternative, he suggested that the relevant laws should be accessed through the Law Ministry’s website. “We are bringing the entire bill, but providing a photocopy of the previous law along with the bill (to all lawmakers) will cost Tk 12 lakh. Here, we have asked to take the previous law from the website,” he explained.
He further assured that the entire bill would be provided, adhering to suggestions for comparative study. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad supported the idea, stating that offering a comparative description of relevant sections would assist members of parliament in understanding the proposed amendments. “What was the law before? What amendments do you want to bring? I think giving such a statement will be convenient for members to consider,” he remarked.
Opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman expressed concerns about the difficulty in comparing amendments without having the original law presented. He stressed the need to have both the amendment proposal and the original legislation for effective comparison. In response, the Speaker assured that the sections of the law with proposed amendments and the changes would be clearly presented to members and further explained in Parliament if needed.