The Supreme Court has upheld a previous decision ordering the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to pay due salary to Md Obaidul Alam Akon, a government official who lost his job in 1982 during the military regime of Gen HM Ershad.
A six-member virtual appellate bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain rejected a review petition filed by the DAE on Monday, clearing the way for Akon, a resident of Patuakhali’s Bauphal, to receive his compensation.
The agricultural ministry will not only have to pay Akon the salary he is due, it also has to provide him with other benefits associated with his previous position, his lawyer said, reports bdnews24.com.
Lawyer Prabir Niyogi, accompanied by lawyer Noman Hossain Talukder, represented Akon, also a freedom fighter, in court. Additional Attorney General SK Morshed represented the state.
“After this decision, Obaidul Alam Akon will receive all he is entitled to as a retiree.”
Akon joined the government agency in 1974 and would have retired in 2012.
Akon was arrested in 1982 on allegations of selling government jute seeds for Tk 2.5 more than the set price per kg. On September of that year, a military court fired Akon from his job, sentenced him to two months in prison and imposed a Tk 1,000 fine.
Akon completed his prison sentence and paid the fine.
In 2011, Ershad's military rule was declared invalid by the Supreme Court. Following the verdict, Akon filed a writ petition with the High Court in 2012 challenging the military court's decision to dismiss him from his job and sentence him.
The High Court in 2017 ruled that Ershad's military court sentence was illegal and out of legal jurisdiction. It instructed the Department of Agricultural Extension to pay Akon his dues.
The Appellate Division upheld the High Court verdict in 2020 after the Department of Agricultural Extension appealed against the verdict in 2018.
The department then filed a petition to review the case. It was dismissed by the Appellate Division on Monday.