Govt sends 3 NBR members, one commissioner on forced retirement

The government has sent three members and one commissioner of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into retirement.

The officials sent to forced retirement are NBR members Alamgir Hossain, Hossain Ahmed, and Abdur Rouf, as well as Md Shabbir Ahmed, who was serving as acting commissioner of the Barishal tax region.

The Internal Resources Division (IRD) made the announcement through separate orders on Wednesday afternoon.

The orders state that two of them have completed 25 years of government service.

Considering that it is necessary to retire them from government service in the public interest, they have been retired under the authority granted by Section 45 of the ‘Government Service Act, 2018’.

However, both will receive retirement benefits in accordance with regulations.

Several NBR officials have indicated that this retirement might be a punitive measure following the recent movement within the NBR.

Earlier, at midnight on Tuesday, Md Zakir Hossain, Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House, was temporarily suspended.

The IRD took this disciplinary action because he disrupted import-export operations by keeping Chattogram Customs House closed on 28 and 29 June.

An order in this regard was issued last night, signed by IRD Secretary and NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan.

This morning, Mohammad Shafi Uddin, Commissioner of the Customs Bond Commissionerate, was assigned as Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House.

Customs and tax officers-employees, under the banner of ‘NBR Reform Unity Council’, observed a complete shutdown programme on 28 and 29 June demanding rational reforms in the revenue sector.

As a result, work was halted at customs and tax offices across the country, including at Chattogram Customs House.

The suspension order for Md Zakir Hossain stated that he was temporarily suspended from service after being appointed as Official on Special Duty (OSD) at NBR, following preliminary departmental proceedings for disobeying the directive to keep the office open and causing significant revenue losses to the government by keeping Chattogram Customs House closed on 28 and 29 June.

During suspension, he will be entitled to subsistence allowance as per regulations.

Chattogram Customs House is the largest revenue-collecting office under the NBR. In the outgoing fiscal year (2024-25), it collected nearly Tk 750 billion in revenue.

In addition, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating 11 NBR officials, including two NBR members and Hassan Mohammad Tarek Rikabdar, president of the NBR Reform Unity Council.