A year too late

After a series of legal battles lasting 48 years, Zil Hossain from Chilgachha village in Sirajganj has gotten justice from the High Court.

The tragedy is that he died a year ago at the age of 72.

The HC on Tuesday ordered the authorities of Bangladesh Agriculture University to give Tk 2 crore to late Hossain's family as compensation for destroying his career by not granting him a honours certificate.

The court also asked them to give 10 percent interest on Tk 2 crore since 2008.

The HC, however, said Tk 25 lakh, deposited by the university authorities to the lower court concerned during the case proceedings, will be deducted from the total amount.

Following the HC verdict, the family will get around Tk 4 crore as compensation, his lawyer Chanchal Kumar Biswas told The Daily Star.

The HC bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice Md Ali Reza delivered the verdict after dismissing an appeal filed by the university authorities, challenging a lower-court verdict that in 2008 ordered the university to give Hossain Tk 2 crore.

Details of the HC verdict could not be known as its full text has not been released yet.

According to the case statement, Zil Hossain was born on January 7, 1950. He appeared for honours final examination at Bangladesh Agriculture University in 1971-72 academic session.

The university authorities had declared that Hossain failed in the exam held in 1973. He applied to the university's academic council seeking review of his result, but the council rejected his application. He took the exam again in 1975.

But this time, he was expelled from the university for locking into altercations with the authorities.

Hossain filed a case with the First Munshef Court (District Munsiff Court is the court of the lowest order handling matters pertaining to civil matters) in Mymensingh on April 22, 1975, seeking redress. He claimed to have passed the exams, but blamed the authorities for incorrectly calculating the marks.

The court on September 29, 1975, gave a verdict declaring the academic council's decision illegal.

Then the university filed an appeal with the judge court against the verdict.

The judge court on January 31, 1976 declared the university's action to expel him illegal. Then the university authorities filed an appeal with the HC, challenging the judge-court verdict.

On August 24, 1976, the HC sent the case to the same First Munshef Court for retrial.

The university authorities then submitted an appeal to the judge-court concerned against the Munshef court verdict. The judge court dismissed the appeal. The authorities then filed another appeal with the HC.

The HC on January 16, 1983, upheld the lower-court verdict.

On December 28, 1986, Bangladesh Agriculture University accepted an application from Hossain and gave him a certificate. At that time, he was 47 years old and was way over the age limit of getting any government jobs.

Hossain, on October 18, 2000, filed a compensation suit with the subordinate court concerned, saying that it took the university authorities 14 years and nine months to execute the HC verdict.

 He also said his life has been damaged due to the activities of the university authorities.

Contacted, late Zil Hossain's son Noor Mohammad Kiron, who just completed his masters in political science from Sirajganj Government College, expressed satisfaction at the HC verdict.

He, however, said his father has died with pain of not getting justice. "We are now waiting for implementation of the High Court verdict."