236 doctors hired illegally, says HC

The High Court yesterday declared illegal appointment of 236 medical officers at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
The bench of Justice Mohammad Momtazuddin Ahmed and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the order on a writ petition challenging the legality of the appointments, which were given in December 2005.
The court said the notification of the appointments by the then BSMMU registrar was issued without lawful authority.
It said the posts had not been approved by the university authorities at the time of the recruitment. They were given retrospective approval, which is illegal.
As per BSMMU Act 1998, the university can appoint medical officers to only the approved posts, the court said.
The HC verdict came around 11 months after a parliamentary sub-committee on the health ministry reported massive irregularities in BSMMU recruitment in 2001-2008.
On October 18, 2005, the BSMMU registrar issued a notification saying that the university would appoint some medical officers.
On the basis of his notification, 236 officers were appointed in December of the same year.
The then general secretary of Swadhinata Chikitshak Parisad Dr Iqbal Arsalan filed the writ petition on January 2, 2006.
The HC on that day issued a rule upon the BSMMU authorities to explain why the registrar's notification and the appointments should not be declared illegal.
The court's decision came after hearing on the rule for seven days.
Mahbub Shafique and KM Hafizul Alam Hafiz appeared for the petitioner, while Tanjib-ul Alam argued for BSMMU.
On January 27 this year, the parliamentary sub-committee on the health ministry suggested that recruitment of some 313 employees at BSMMU be cancelled as it was not in accordance with the university's rules.
The sub-committee formed on June 7 last year also recommended legal steps against the then president of the selection board, members and member-secretary.