Govt, BGMEA warned over inaction
Managing Director of Tazreen Fashions Delawar Hossain was seen at the High Court yesterday. A devastating fire at his factory killed at least 112 workers last November. Photo: Focus Bangla
The High Court yesterday once again expressed its dissatisfaction with the government and the BGMEA for their failure to submit before it the reports on compensations given to the Tazreen fire victims.
The court also showed its disappointment, as it was yet to get the DNA test reports of relatives of the people who went missing in the fire incident on November 24 last year.
During a hearing on a writ petition, the HC ordered the government and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to submit the reports on July 28.
The court said it would take actions against the government and the BGMEA officials concerned if they fail to submit the reports on the day.
On June 19, the HC ordered secretaries to the ministries of home, and labour, the inspector general of police, and the president of the BGMEA to submit the reports on July 18.
In this regard, Deputy Attorney General Bishwojit Roy told the court that his office had not got any reports from the government or the BGMEA, and none of them had contacted his office.
BGMEA President Atiqul Islam told The Daily Star that his office had sent a compensation report to their lawyer Abdul Mannan around one month back to submit it before the HC.
The Daily Star correspondent could not reach Abdul Mannan for his comments despite repeated attempts yesterday.
Senior Secretary to the home ministry CQK Mustaq Ahmed also could not be reached despite repeated attempts over the phone.
Petitioners' lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua said the HC had expressed dismay since no reports on compensation or DNA tests were submitted before it. The court was dismayed for the same reason on June 19, he added.
Yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Quazi Rezal-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altab Hossain also asked Tazreen owner Md Delwar Hossain to appear before it on July 28.
Delwar appeared before the bench yesterday as per its June 19 order. The bench fixed July 28 for passing an order on the issue.
On June 11, a government body probing the devastating fire had found “unpardonable neglect” on the part of the Tazreen owner, but said the incident might have been “subversive”.
The probe report was submitted before the HC on June 19.
The committee, formed by the home ministry, recommended that factory owner Delwar Hossain be tried under Section 304 (A) of the Penal Code, which hands down only five years' imprisonment as maximum punishment.
Three anthropologists -- Naznin Akter Banu, Saydia Gulrukh Kamal, and Mahmudul Hasan Sumon -- filed a writ petition on April 28 with the HC, seeking directives on the government to arrest and bring Delwar to book.
The petitioners had also claimed 37 garment workers had been missing since the deadly fire.
The fire at Tazreen Fashions Ltd in Ashulia on the outskirts of Dhaka on November 24 last year killed at least 112 people and injured many others.
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