Public Servants (Marriage with Foreign Nationals) Bill placed in JS

A bill titled ‘Public Servants (Marriage with Foreign Nationals) Bill, 2015’ was placed in Parliament to scrap the Public Servants (Marriage With Foreign Nationals) Ordinance which was promulgated in 1976 during the martial law regime.

Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam placed the Bill in the House and it was sent to the respective Parliamentary Standing Committee for further scrutiny.

The committee was asked to submit its report within 60 days.

On March 2, the Cabinet gave the final approval subject to vetting of the Law Ministry to the draft of the ‘Public Servants (Marriage with Foreign Nationals) Bill, 2015’.

The existing law was originally promulgated in 1976 through a martial law ordinance and later it was amended in 2008 during the caretaker government through another ordinance.

The original law was in English and the proposed one has been drafted in Bangla in line with the earlier Cabinet decision of making all laws in the mother tongue.

According to the proposed law, a public servant shall not marry or promise to marry a foreign national except with the permission granted.

The President may, on an application made in this regard, grant a public servant permission to marry or promise to marry a foreign national.

A public servant who contravenes the provisions shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law or in the terms and conditions of his service, be liable to be removed from service.