NBR RO, ARO suspended for misconduct

The Customs, Excise & VAT Commissionerate Jashore under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has suspended a revenue officer (RO) and an assistant revenue officer (ARO) for impounding Vision Drugs Limited’s vehicle without jurisdiction and harassment among other offences.

The revenue officer is Baharul Islam Bhuiyan, and the assistant revenue officer is Md Al-Monsur. They both work under the commissionerate.

Besides, they have been accused of entering without permission the divisional official’s room in his absence, re-impounding Vision Drugs vehicle in an unauthorised manner, and harassment. Moreover, they have been accused of attempting to have their personal interests served by creating fake case documents.

In this regard, the commissionerate issued two orders on Tuesday against the two officials, saying the investigation team had found primary evidence regarding the allegations. The three-member team headed by an additional commissioner submitted the investigation report on Monday.

One of the orders said the RO, instead of bringing the allegation of revenue evasion against Vision Drugs to the attention of the higher authorities concerned, attempted to receive illegal benefits from the company through intimidation.

The investigation report said Baharul committed the offences while serving as in-charge of circle-1 under the commissionerate and also supported the illegal activities of Al-Monsur.

Tuesday’s orders issued by Commissioner Md Moazzem Hossain said Baharul and Al-Monsur had shown negligence and were also involved in misconduct in the discharge of their duties through such activities.

The activities are categorised as misconduct as per rule 2(b) of the Government Employees Discipline and Appeal Rules 2018 and a punishable offence under sub-rule (b) of rule 3, the orders said.

The orders further said the RO and the ARO have been suspended as per rule 12(1) of the Government Employees Discipline and Appeal Rules 2018. However, they will get a subsistence allowance during this period as per the rule.

During this period, both officers have to be present regularly in the office during office hours and also report to the divisional official, according to the orders.