Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that sought a report on the salaries, allowances and others facilities provided to Taqsem A Khan, managing director and chief executive officer of Dhaka Wasa over the last 13 years.
The Appellate Division of the SC maintained another HC order that restrained Wasa authorities from distributing performance bonus to its employees for three months and asked the HC to dispose of the rule issued on this issue as soon as possible.
The chamber judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Borhanuddin, delivered the orders after hearing two appeals filed by the board of Wasa and its MD seeking stay on the HC orders.
The judge passed “no order” on the leave to appeal petitions, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, lawyer for writ petitioner Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told The Daily Star.
He said the chairman of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) must submit the report on the Wasa MD’s salaries, allowances and others facilities to the HC in two months from the date of receiving its order following the SC chamber judge’s order.
Lawyer AM Masum, who appeared for the Wasa board and the MD, told this correspondent that the HC would settle the issue of distributing performance bonus after holding hearing on the matter.
CAB Senior Vice President Prof Shamsul Alam argued for the organisation during the hearing yesterday.
Following a writ petition filed by CAB, the HC on August 17 ordered the Dhaka Wasa chairman to submit a report before it in 60 days, detailing the total gross salaries, performance bonus, travel allowance and daily allowances (TA/DA), and all other benefits in terms of cash paid to Taqsem since his appointment.
The HC also questioned the legality of Taqsem’s holding the position of MD and CEO and paying him Tk 6.25 lakh as his gross monthly salary.
The court issued a rule asking the government authorities concerned to explain why their inaction in not taking any step to remove Taqsem from the post of Wasa MD and CEO and in cancelling the previous decisions to increase 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.
Secretary at the ministry of local government and rural development; board of Dhaka Wasa and its chairman; and Taqsem were made respondents to the rule.
Taqsem was made Dhaka Wasa MD in 2009. Despite severe criticism of his role in ensuring quality of Wasa services, he was reappointed for the sixth term.
