THE High Court on Tuesday observed that some Deputy Commissioners and Officers-in-Charge of police stations consider themselves as “zamindars” and act as if they are “all in all”. It made the observation while hearing a bail petition filed by Ex-Sonagazi OC Moazzem Hossain. The police official was sued for recording a statement of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was burnt to death in Feni, on his mobile phone and circulating the video clip on social media without her consent. The court said Moazzem utterly failed to protect the life of madrasa student Nusrat and damaged police department’s image.
After hearing the arguments, the HC Bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Khizir Hayat rejected the bail petition on the grounds that it was not moved properly before the court. Opposing the bail petition, Attorney General said the humiliating questions that were asked to the girl by OC cannot be acceptable. ‘I have not seen such an irresponsible act in my life’, he added.
The court said Moazzem could have shown sympathy for Nusrat and could have even asked her to file a written complaint with the police station. If he had kept the girl in police custody, she would still be alive. Instead of doing that, at that time, the on-duty OC did the opposite thing, which didn’t go in line with his job responsibility. Not only that OC, there are huge allegations against the civil servants, specially in District and Upazila level where they act like a king.
We must say, the court has rightly observed one of the most crises of the country where civil servants act like owners of the country and treat the people as their servants almost often. In all government offices including bank, hospital, police department, City Corporations and other semi-government offices, people are being deprived of proper service ultimately resulting in abuse and corruption. Nobody is accountable to the people and there is no authority to supervise the service quality and mismanagement of the civil servants in offices.
The state machinery is run by the civil servants where the overall cost is maintained by the money of the taxpayers, and therefore, taxpayers are honoured. It’s the system around the world. But in Bangladesh, the taxpayers are ‘Proja’ and the civil servants are ‘Zamindars’- what a nice practice!
After hearing the arguments, the HC Bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Khizir Hayat rejected the bail petition on the grounds that it was not moved properly before the court. Opposing the bail petition, Attorney General said the humiliating questions that were asked to the girl by OC cannot be acceptable. ‘I have not seen such an irresponsible act in my life’, he added.
The court said Moazzem could have shown sympathy for Nusrat and could have even asked her to file a written complaint with the police station. If he had kept the girl in police custody, she would still be alive. Instead of doing that, at that time, the on-duty OC did the opposite thing, which didn’t go in line with his job responsibility. Not only that OC, there are huge allegations against the civil servants, specially in District and Upazila level where they act like a king.
We must say, the court has rightly observed one of the most crises of the country where civil servants act like owners of the country and treat the people as their servants almost often. In all government offices including bank, hospital, police department, City Corporations and other semi-government offices, people are being deprived of proper service ultimately resulting in abuse and corruption. Nobody is accountable to the people and there is no authority to supervise the service quality and mismanagement of the civil servants in offices.
The state machinery is run by the civil servants where the overall cost is maintained by the money of the taxpayers, and therefore, taxpayers are honoured. It’s the system around the world. But in Bangladesh, the taxpayers are ‘Proja’ and the civil servants are ‘Zamindars’- what a nice practice!
