HC to pass order on govt action in October

The High Court yesterday gave the government a couple of months’ time to take action against those involved in anomalies worth tens of crores of taka, in purchase of furniture and appliances for officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna.

“As two separate committees formed by the government have probed the allegations of anomalies, we will wait to see what action is taken against the persons responsible for these,” the HC bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Md Shohrowardi said while hearing a writ petition.

They said this after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam prayed to the court to wait for two to two and half months to know the government’s action against the persons responsible for the anomalies.

The bench also said it will hold further hearing and pass order on this issue after a week of the court’s reopening following its annual vacation.

The court vacation will begin on August 30, and end on October 12.

This means the HC will hear and pass order on the issue on October 20, Deputy Attorney General Amatul Karim Swapna, who placed the probe reports before the HC, told The Daily Star.

During hearing, writ petitioner Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman told the court that the government’s action to form the probe committees and their inquiry reports are satisfactory.

The committees suggested taking action to realise the Tk 36.4 crore that was paid through anomalies and to take departmental action against the persons responsible for the irregularities, he said, adding that criminal proceedings need to be taken against them.

DAG Amatul said two separate committees were formed by the ministry of housing and public works and the department of public works, to inquire into the allegations of anomalies in purchasing furniture and appliances for officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

The ministry-formed committee has found anomalies involving Tk 36.4 crore in the procurement for four buildings of Green City Housing Project under the power plant, she added.

The committee formed by the public works department has found possible anomalies involving Tk 62 core in purchasing furniture and other household items for nine buildings of the same housing project, Amatul said.

More than 50 officials, including Engineer Masudul Alam -- former project director of Green City Housing Project, were found responsible for the anomalies by the two probe committees.

On May 22, Masudul was made a reserve officer at the public works department for his alleged involvement in the irregularities, DAG Amatul said, adding that their promotion file has been kept halted.

Following the writ petition filed by Suman, a Supreme Court lawyer, the HC on July 2 asked the attorney general’s office to collect the committees’ reports and submit those before the court in two weeks.

It also issued a rule asking the government to explain why it failed to ensure transparency in purchasing the items.

According to media reports, purchase prices of various items to furnish the project’s 966 flats for Russian engineers and others were abnormally higher than the market prices. The reports claimed each pillow was bought for Tk 5,957, and the cost of carrying it to a flat was Tk 760. An electric stove cost Tk 7,747 and the carrying cost from the ground floor to the top one cost Tk 6,650.