Approval from 3 authorities must for foreign trips
The High Court has ruled that any government official below the rank of joint secretary must take permission from the cabinet division and finance ministry, along with the approval from his or her own ministry, for any official foreign tour.
This is to ensure that public money spent for the trip is not misused.
The bench of Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque made the observation on Thursday while delivering verdict on a writ petition filed in 2016 in connection with the issue, Deputy Attorney General Sk Shaifuzzaman told The Daily Star yesterday.
He said Jonny Corporation, a fog light importing company, filed the petition challenging the legality of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation's action to confiscate the contractor's bank security money of Tk 28 lakh as the company had imported and supplied 10 substandard fog lights for BIWTC ferries plying the Mawa and Paturia routes.
The lights were imported from the US in 2016.
Citing the HC observation, Shaifuzzaman said the government officials below the rank of joint secretary must concentrate on the state purpose and cannot spend any leisure time during the official visit abroad.
In the judgement, the bench also observed that the government officials must report about the visit and expenditures to the cabinet division and finance ministry after joining the office, he added.
Shaifuzzaman said the government officials concerned are now to take permission from his or her own ministry for any official foreign tour.
He added that the detailed observations of the HC would be available when it would release the full text of its verdict.
Shaifuzzaman said the BIWTC had confiscated Jonny Corporation's security money after its probe committee found that the supplier company received a payment of Tk 6 crore for supplying 7,000W high-power fog lights, but those were not more effective than the 3,000W lights usually used in ferries.
He added that the probe also found that government officials -- one from the BIWTC, three from the shipping ministry and the managing director of Jonny Corporation -- had visited the US in summer instead of winter and that is why the effectiveness of the fog lights could not be tested properly.
Following the probe report, the BIWTC confiscated the security money of Jonny Corporation. Then the company filed the petition with the HC challenging the BIWTC's action.
The HC on Thursday delivered the verdict after rejecting the petition.
Jonny Corporation owner Omer Ali's lawyer Bahadur Shah told this paper yesterday that his client did not communicate with him after the judgment was delivered. So, he did not know whether the company would move any appeal before the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, the lawyer added.
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