A long overdue step taken

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) creaking under the pile of 7000 cases of unrealised taxes amounting to Tk 2,500 crore has hired four lawyers by virtue of a cabinet division decision allowing for recourse to professional legal consultancy from outside the government. It has already started making an impact, not only by way of speeding things up but also competent handling of the cases. Had the step been taken earlier, the NBR would have been that much more free of case-load and the national coffer richer by hundreds of crores.

The High Court, in a complementary move, on the suggestion of the NBR, has also formed three separate benches to deal with the pending cases, so that one can expect an expeditious disposal of cases from this point on.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The Attorney General's office has been too heavily burdened by the enormity of cases arising mostly out of executive actions in which it has to represent the state, so that it has little time left to attend to cases of NBR origin. At the same time, the Accountant General's office has a plateful on its hands. All this explains why the NBR cases have only extrapolated.

The fact, however, that the government has agreed to harness lawyers from outside the Attorney General's office is break with a meaningless tradition and, as such, a big step forward in reaching out to the larger professional world of commitment and skill. All that we look forward to now is an extension of the same spirit whereby lawyers of merit and competence, regardless of their political beliefs, or perceived affiliations, are chosen to handle cases. The same principle should also apply at the prosecution stages, if and when involved.