High Court rejects petition to stop govt officials’ “unnecessary foreign trips”

The High Court today (August 1, 2022) summarily rejected a writ petition which sought its order on the government to stop "unnecessary" foreign trips of government officials – "in the name of training, meeting, seminars" – with taxpayers' money.

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the rejection order after Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told the court that no government official has gone abroad for any unnecessary purpose or without permission from the higher authorities concerned.

The attorney general also assured that the directives issued by the finance ministry on May 12 this year about banning the government officials' foreign trips will be followed strictly.

The finance ministry in a circular on May 12 said all exposure visits/study tours/travels for APA, innovations, workshops or seminars will remain suspended until further notice.

ASM Al Sonnet, a student of Dhaka University and president of Muktijuddha Mancha, filed the writ petition as public interest litigation with the HC on July 31 challenging the authorities' "inaction" and "failure" to stop unnecessary foreign trips of government officials.

In the petition, he also requested the HC to direct the authorities concerned of the government to hold judicial enquiry on the overseas travel of agriculture ministry officials.

Lawyer Syed Sayedul Haque Suman appeared for the writ petitioner during hearing of the petition yesterday.

Citing the petition, the lawyer told The Daily Star that around 100 officials of the ministry of agriculture have already visited – "Floriade Expo 2022" – an International Horticulture Exhibition held in Almere, Netherlands.

Some of those officials went to the exhibition with their wives or husbands, and some of them also travelled from the Netherlands to other Schengen countries in Europe despite travel restrictions, he added.