Deputy Secretary Sacked For Being Abroad Illegally

Dr. Nirmal Kumar Halder, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, went to Australia with his family on February 25 last year for the purpose of collecting Ph.D. degrees and publishing research papers, etc. from the University of Sydney, Australia. And now he is fired from his job for not returning home after finishing work.

Recently, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notice in this regard.

It is said in the notice that Dr. Nirmal Kumar Halder has not returned to the country to date despite his vacation ending on April 25 after going to Australia on February 25, 2022. Dr. Nirmal Kumar applied for 4 4-month leave extension from Australia on April 21 of the same year. He was requested to return to the country without granting a leave application for lack of reasonable cause.

However, as he was staying abroad, a departmental case was filed against him under Rules 3(b) and 3(c) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018 on charges of 'misconduct' and 'fleeing' respectively, and orders to show cause were issued. After that, the accused officer did not show interest in a personal hearing after filing a reply.

In response, he expressed his interest in resigning from government service as he could no longer serve due to personal and family reasons. In terms of Rule 7(2)(d) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, an Inquiry Officer was appointed to investigate the complaint.

On March 22 this year, the investigating officer filed an investigation report against him under Rules 3(b) and 3(c) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, respectively, stating that the allegations of 'misconduct' and 'fleeing' were proved beyond doubt.

After reviewing the investigation report and related documents, a preliminary decision was taken to award capital punishment to the accused official as per Rule 7(8) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, and a second show-cause notice was issued to him by the Ministry of Public Administration as per Rule 7(9) of the same rules.

After reviewing the entire matter including the written second show-cause reply and investigation report, Dr. Nirmal Kumar has been decided to 'dismissal from service' as punishment as per rule 4(3)(d) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018 and proposed punishment. Bangladesh Public Works Commission's advice is sought regarding the payment. The commission later agreed with the decision to award him the proposed maximum penalty. When the President graciously agreed to this, he was given the penalty of dismissal from service.