HC irked by govt's failure to turn in Tazreen report

The High Court was dismayed yesterday by the government's failure to submit the home ministry's probe report on the Tazreen fire and present its owner before the court.
The deadly fire on November 24 at Tazreen Fashions Ltd, a garment factory in Ashulia, killed at least 112 people and injured many others.
Following a writ petition, the HC on May 19 ordered the government to submit the probe report and to produce Delwar Hossain, owner of the factory.
Hossain, however, appeared by himself before the court yesterday.
At the hearing on the petition yesterday, the HC told Deputy Attorney General Bishwojit Roy that the government has failed to submit the report and could not produce Hossain either. The government said Hossain was absconding.
Roy told the court his office is yet to get the report from the home ministry. The government has taken steps to ensure that Hossain cannot escape the country, he added
After the hearing, the court directed the government to submit the probe report on June 9 and ordered Hossain to reappear before the court on that day.
Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, a lawyer for the writ petitioners, told The Daily Star that the home ministry on November 25 last year formed a panel to investigate the fire and prepared a report.
Before the HC passed the order, Hossain said he appeared before the HC, as the Criminal Investigation Department asked him to do so.
Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain fixed June 9 for passing a fresh order on the petition.
Anthropologists Naznin Akter Banu, Saydia Gulrukh Kamal and Mahmudul Hasan Sumon filed the writ petition on April 28, seeking directives from the HC on the government to arrest Hossain and punish him in connection with the blaze.