Staff Reporter :
The High Court has observed in a full verdict that the process of enquiry against the government officials who are made officer on special duty (OSD) must be completed within 150 days.
The court said, “In the event of any officer being designated as an OSD, the Government must, without undue delay, form a Committee and undertake an inquiry so as to ascertain the veracity of such allegation/complaint. If the allegation/complaint is found to have substance, the Government should take appropriate action against the concerned Officer, in accordance with law. However, the process of enquiry must be completed within the stipulated period of 150 days.”
Signed by Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar, the full text was released on the Supreme Court website on Monday, while the short verdict was delivered on January 8 in 2020.
Following a writ petition the HC in the verdict declared illegal to keep a government official as an OSD for more than 150 days.
Each and every Government officer, presently designated as an OSD and in whose case the period of 150 days has elapsed, shall stand released forthwith from the order designating such Officer as an OSD and shall revert back to the previous place of posting, also read the full text. The court said keeping a government official as OSD for an indefinite period is grossly unfair, unjust and an infraction of a person’s fundamental right as guaranteed under Article 31 of the Constitution.
It also observed that such officers face humiliation and degradation not only in the estimation of their colleagues and family members, but also before the society at large. No authority, not even the Government, has the right to degrade or malign a person and his family members in the society without due process of law.
In the observation the court also said, “We do not, for a moment, question the authority of the Government to designate an Officer as an OSD. However, this power must be exercised in accordance with law and only in accordance with law.”
The court ordered to send the copy of the judgment to the senior secretary of the Cabinet Division, the Senior Secretary of the ministry of public administration and the rector of the PATC for their information and guidance.
Barrister Annek R Haque, advocte Md Monjur Nahid, advocate Mahjerin Musharaf and advocate Khaleda Chowdhury appeared in the court on behalf of the writ petitioner.
M Asafuddowlah, a former secretary of the government, filed the writ petition with the HC in 2012 challenging the legality of keeping a government official as OSD for an indefinite time.
After hearing the petition, the HC on June 4, 2012, directed the government to submit a report before it within eight weeks on how many officials were made OSD in public administration in last 10 years.
The court also asked the public administration secretary to mention in the report the tenures of keeping the officials as OSD in last 10 years and how much money was paid for them during that period.
The court also issued a rule asking respondents to explain in eight weeks as to why the government action keeping the officials OSD for indefinite period without specific reasons and spending state money for paying their salaries should not be declared illegal.
The HC Bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar issued the rule following the writ petition filed challenging the existing system of keeping officials OSD without any reason for indefinite period. After hearing the court declared the rule absolute.
