HC summons health secretary

The High Court yesterday summoned the health secretary for allegedly ignoring and misinterpreting its verdict regarding including 216 upazila family planning officers in the cadre service.
In response to a petition, the court directed Md Humayun Kabir to appear before it on January 25 to explain his conduct in this regard.
The HC on December 4, 1995 following a writ petition directed the government to include the upazila family planning officers, who have relevant qualifications, in the cadre service with seniority from September 11, 1995.
The Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) on February 22, 2010 recommended to include only 34 officers in the cadre service, as they were found qualified as per the HC directives.
The four writ petitioners, who were directly recruited as cadre officers, in May last year filed a contempt of court petition against the health secretary for not executing the recommendation of the DGFP in line with the HC directives.
Following this petition, the court on May 24 last year issued a rule upon the health secretary to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be brought against him for not complying with its verdict.
The petitioners on January 8 submitted a petition to the HC to summon the health secretary before it to explain his conduct in this regard.
The HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam issued summons against the health secretary after hearing the petition yesterday.