Advisory Council approves proposals to amend two EC laws

NN ONLINE:

The Advisory Council today approved proposals to amend the Election Commission Secretariat Act, 2009, and the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, to ensure free, fair and impartial elections.  Proposals to amend several revenue-related laws under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) were also approved by the Advisory Council.

The approvals came at a meeting of the Advisory Council held at the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO) in the city’s Tejgaon area with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair. After the meeting, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam briefed reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in the city this afternoon.

“The Advisory Council today approved proposals to amend two Election Commission related laws – the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act No. 13 of 1991) and the Election Commission Secretariat Act 2009 (Act No. 5 of 2009),” he said.

The press secretary said the amendments to the two laws will make the Election Commission’s activities more dynamic and ensure accountability of the officials engaged in election management.  “In particular, the provisions of punishment for negligence of duty during elections will now be clearer,” he added.

Shafiqul Alam said, through the amendments, significant changes have been brought to sections 2, 5, and 6 of the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. These include redefining the term “election officer,” updating provisions related to disciplinary action, and adding new sub-sections, he added.

Meanwhile, the Advisory Council also gave final approval, in principle, to the draft of several financial laws (second amendment) ordinance, 2025, prepared under the NBR, the press secretary said, adding, under which, the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012 has been amended to allow VAT exemptions in specific cases through special orders.

Additionally, the Income Tax Act, 2023, has been amended to raise the withholding tax on investments in government securities or approved securities by corporate taxpayers from 10 percent to 15 percent, he said.

Besides, a provision has also been introduced to treat tax collection from commercially operated buses and transport sectors as final taxable income, Shafiqul Alam added. About other issues, the press secretary said, the meeting discussed reform activities in detail.

The progress on very important 77 reform proposals out of the 121 taken in the previous batches was reviewed in the meeting, he said, adding, among them, 24 have already been implemented, 14 partially implemented, while the rest are in the process to be implemented soon. The press secretary said, at the meeting, the Chief Adviser directed all ministries and divisions to prepare and submit a list of reforms already completed on their own initiatives, alongside those recommended by the Reform Commission.

He hoped that ministries and divisions would submit their progress reports on the reform initiatives to the Cabinet Division by the beginning of next month. The Cabinet Division will then publish the information in the form of a booklet for public dissemination, Shafiqul Alam said.