Bangladesh President Waives Penalties for 21 NBR Officials Over 2025 Protest

🏛 Dhaka, Bangladesh — President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has waived disciplinary penalties imposed on 21 National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials over their involvement in last year’s protests for revenue-sector reforms, accepting their appeals for clemency.

📋 The Internal Resources Division (IRD) of the Ministry of Finance issued separate gazette notifications yesterday. The disciplinary proceedings were initiated after the officials publicly tore up their transfer orders during protests in June 2025, when NBR officials and employees demonstrated against the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025.

⚠ The conduct was classified as a breach of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, according to the IRD notifications.

👥 Background: Unprecedented NBR Shutdown of June 2025

📊 The protests erupted after the interim government issued the ordinance on 12 May 2025. The movement continued for about six weeks and culminated in disruptions at customs and tax offices across the country in late June.

🏛 For several consecutive days, work was suspended at customs and tax offices nationwide, including the NBR headquarters in Dhaka. Such a shutdown was unprecedented in the NBR’s history.

🤝 The movement, organised under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council, included countrywide sit-ins, marches and rallies, bringing revenue-sector activities to a standstill.

📊 The disruption came at a crucial time for revenue collection as the fiscal year was drawing to a close. NBR officials eventually called off the movement following mediation by business leaders.

📋 Misconduct Charges and Presidential Pardon

📊 During the protests, some officials publicly tore up their transfer orders, while others took organisational roles. Several officials also joined the movement by keeping their offices closed.

🏛 The authorities treated the conduct as misconduct under the:

• 📜 Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1979
• 📜 Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018

📊 The IRD said the officials later sought pardons through formal appeals, which the president has now approved.

👥 The 21 Officials Whose Penalties Were Waived

📋 The 21 officials whose penalties have been waived include:

• 👥 Commissioner (Current Charge): Md Zakir Hossain
• 👥 Joint Commissioners of Taxes (5): Morshed Uddin Khan, Masuma Khatun, Md Mamun Mia, Monalisa Shahreen Sushmita, Md Sanwarul Kabir
• 👥 Additional Commissioners of Taxes (8): Murad Ahmed, Mirza Ashiq Rana, Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rekabdar, Sifat-e-Mariam, Sultana Habib, Chand Sultana Chowdhurany, AAM Amimul Ehsan Khan, Sadhan Kumar Kundu
• 👥 Deputy Commissioners (5): Imam Tauhid Hasan Shakil, Md Zillur Rahman, Mohammad Saidul Islam, Mohammad Shihabul Islam, Md Shahadat Jamil
• 👥 Revenue Officers (2): Sobuj Mia, Shafiul Boshr

📊 According to IRD sources, three more officials are likely to be included in the list, as they have also sought clemency from the president.

🌏 Strategic Context: NBR Reform Saga

📊 The 2025 NBR protests marked a watershed moment in Bangladesh’s public administration history. Never before had the country’s tax administration — responsible for collecting the bulk of government revenue — staged such widespread work stoppages.

🤝 The protests were triggered by the interim government’s Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025, which NBR officials argued would:

• 📋 Separate policy from administration — creating a new Revenue Policy Division outside NBR
• 📋 Dilute NBR’s authority — reducing its operational autonomy
• 📋 Undermine career progression — affecting promotion prospects of existing officials
• 📋 Politicise revenue administration — potentially enabling political interference in tax collection

📊 For the government, the protests were a serious concern:

• 💰 Revenue impact — shutdown during fiscal year-end affected collection
• 🏛 Administrative precedent — civil servants defying transfer orders
• 🤝 Political optics — protests against an interim government reform agenda
• 📊 Business disruption — customs clearance delays hit trade

📈 Path Forward: Reconciliation or Reform

🤝 The presidential pardon signals the government’s willingness to move beyond the conflict with NBR officials — a pragmatic step given that the country’s tax administration must function effectively for the government to meet its revenue targets. Continuing disciplinary action against protesting officials would have risked prolonging tensions within NBR at a time when the country needs robust revenue mobilisation to address fiscal pressures.

📊 For Bangladesh’s broader reform agenda, the NBR episode offers several lessons:

• 🤝 Stakeholder engagement — major administrative reforms need prior consultation with affected officials
• 📋 Sequencing — reform implementation should consider timing, especially around fiscal year-end
• 👥 Communication — clear articulation of reform rationale is essential to avoid misunderstanding
• 💰 Capacity building — strengthening NBR capacity should be coupled with autonomy reforms
• 📊 Dispute resolution — institutional mechanisms for resolving administrative grievances

✅ For the NBR officials themselves, the pardon offers a chance to return to regular duties without the shadow of disciplinary proceedings. With Bangladesh’s tax-to-GDP ratio remaining among the lowest in Asia — and with the government facing pressing revenue needs to fund infrastructure, social services and LDC graduation transition — the country’s tax administrators will need to focus their energies on expanding the tax base, improving compliance, and modernising collection systems rather than contesting administrative reforms.

🌏 As the three additional clemency appeals are processed, the NBR reform chapter appears to be closing — allowing both the government and tax administration to refocus on the critical work of revenue mobilisation that underpins Bangladesh’s development agenda.