HC asks govt to explain CEC's salary hold-up
Staff Correspondent
The High Court (HC) yesterday ordered the government and the Office of Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) to explain within two weeks why the directive to hold up salaries of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and three election commissioners (ECs) should not be declared illegal.The HC also sought explanation for the directive to deposit to the public exchequer the pension money they drew. The HC Division Bench of Justice M A Aziz and Syed Rifat Ahmed issued the ruling in response to a writ filed by the CEC and the ECs. Salaries of the CEC and three ECs have been held up since July due to an objection from the CAG's office. Earlier in March last year, the CAG's office asked CEC MA Syed and ECs Safiur Rahman, M Munsef Ali and AK Mohammad Ali to deposit the pension money they drew in 'violation' of rules. Dr Kamal Hossain moved the writ on behalf of the four. "The government and the CAG's office stopped our salaries illogically. We met the finance minister, finance secretary and the CAG to seek remedy, but we were deprived. Now we are seeking justice to the court," Syed told The Daily Star yesterday after filing the writ. The CAG's office informed the election commission secretariat on March 17 last year that if Safiur Rahman wanted to get total amount of his salary, he must adjust his gross pension by depositing the amount he had drawn. The same will also be applicable to the CEC and other ECs, it said citing a finance ministry decision. The CEC and the ECs did not respond to the directive from the CAG's office. The Election Commission tried to resolve the problem through consultation with the government and the CAG's office but failed.
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