HC for holding public fund embezzlers accountable
FE REPORT | Friday, 15 December 2023
The High Court on Thursday said that those who misappropriate public funds must be held responsible and accountable.
It further said the authorities should take appropriate action if the vice chancellor of any public university commits illegality, irregularity, and fund embezzlement while in office.
The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque passed the observation while delivering a verdict on a writ petition filed challenging the legality of the recruitment of 138 teachers and staff members of Rajshahi University.
In the judgment, the High Court rejected the rule issued earlier questioning the legality of the recruitment of 138 teachers and staff members of Rajshahi University, appointed by the then Vice Chancellor Prof M Abdus Sobhan on May 5, 2021, the last day of his term.
The court said that since the recruitment of the 138 teachers and staff members was finally dismissed by the authorities, the rule had no substance. In an observation, the High Court said those who use public funds must be held responsible and accountable.
The teachers and staffers can file fresh applications for recruitment in RU and the authorities would consider their applications in accordance with the law, said Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta who represented the state during the hearing of the petition.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) submitted the writ petition as a public interest litigation to the HC on August 31, 2021, challenging the legality of former RU VC Abdus Sobhan's action of recruiting 138 teachers and staffers and the inaction of the government and ACC in taking action against Sobhan.
During a hearing of the petition, CAB's lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua told the HC that the then VC of RU Abdus Sobhan gave the appointment of 138 teachers and staff members at the university on May 5, 2021 violating the provision of Rajshahi University Act, 1973.
Following the writ petition, the High Court in September, 2021 issued a questioning the recruitment actions of the former RU VC and at the same time the HC stayed the recruitment of those 138.
In the meantime, an investigation committee recommended the cancellation of the recruitment of the 138 people, and finally they were dismissed by the authorities.