SC upholds HC order on Wasa MD’s salary statement

Staff Reporter :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a High Court order that directed the Chairman of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to submit a report before it regarding the total gross salary, performance bonus, TADA, and all other benefits in terms of cash and kinds paid to its Managing Director and CEO Engineer Taqsem A Khan in last 13 years within 60 days.
The Appellate Division also upheld another HC order that issued an injunction restraining the Dhaka WASA from distributing performance bonus to its employees for three months.
Chamber judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Borhanuddin, passed ‘no order’ on two separate leave to appeal petitions filed by Dhaka WASA board and its MD Taqsem seeking stay on the HC orders.
Lawyer AM Masum appeared in the court hearing for WASA MD and its board, while Professor Dr Shamsul Alam, Senior Vice President of the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh (CAB), appeared for his organization.
Following a writ petition filed by the CAB, the HC on August 17 ordered the Chairman of the Dhaka WASA to submit a report to it regarding the total gross salary, performance bonus, TADA, and all other benefits in terms of cash and kinds paid to its Managing Director and CEO Engineer Taqsem A Khan in last 13 years within 60 days.
The High Court also questioned the legality of holding the position of Managing Director and CEO of the Dhaka WASA by Engineer Taqsem A Khan and paying him Tk 6.25 lakh as his gross salary.
The court issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain in four weeks as to why the inaction of the respondents in not taking any step to remove Managing Director and CEO of the Dhaka WASA and cancel the previous decisions increasing his salary in violation of the Service Order (Salary and Benefits), 2015 and the notification issued in this regard by the Finance Ministry should not be declared illegal.
It also wanted to know in the rule as to why the respondents should not be directed to take appropriate steps to remove the Dhaka WASA MD and recover the excess salary paid to him illegally in the last 13 years and as to why the respondents should not be directed to fix the salary and other service benefits of the Dhaka WASA MD in line with the provisions of the Service Order (Salary and Benefits), 2015, and the notification issued in this regard by the Finance Ministry.
Local Government Secretary and Dhaka WASA’s board, Chairman and MD were asked to comply with the rule within four weeks.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard.
Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) represented by its Chairman Architect Mubasshar Hussain filed the writ petition on July 31 this year.