Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered the owners of two buses-BRTC and Swajan Paribahan-to pay Tk 1 crore to the family of Rajib Hossain, who lost his right hand in a road accident and later died last month.
The bus owners have been asked to pay Tk 50 lakh within a month to the account of Rajib’s aunt Jahanara Begum and their relative Customs Officer Omar Faruk with Sonali Bank’s Principal Branch.
The HC also directed the bus owners to submit a report after complying with the order to this court by June 25.
The court said it would fix the next date for paying the remaining Tk 50 lakh after receiving the compliance report.
The HC Bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice A K M Zahirul Hoque passed the order after hearing the rule issued by the Bench on April 4 over the matter.
Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, the writ petitioner, said, a joint account will be opened at the principal branch of Sonali Bank in the name of Rajib’s aunt Jahanara Begum and their relative Customs Officer Omar Faruk.
Jahanara and Rajib’s two brothers-Mehedi Hasan Bappy, 13, and Abdullah, 11, who are madrasa students-were present in the court when the HC passed the order. Rajib’s aunt told the court that she has brought up Rajib’s two brothers and she will continue to do so in future. After two weeks in coma, Rajib Hossain, a third-year student of Government Titumir College, died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on April 17.
Rajib lost the hand after it got stuck between two speeding buses of BRTC and Swajan Paribahan which were trying to overtake each other on April 3. Profusely bleeding, he was taken to Samorita Hospital at Panthapath. He was at the post operative intensive care unit (ICU) on the day of the accident.
After publishing the photograph of Rajib’s hanging hand on April 4, Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, a Supreme Court lawyer, on the same day, filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking necessary order for the treatment of Rajib and ensuring free movement of people.
After holding hearing the same HC Bench directed the owners of two buses to bear all the treatment cost of Titumir College student Rajib Hossain. The court also issued a rule asking the government and the bus owners to explain in four weeks as to why they should not be directed to give Tk 1 crore to Rajib Hossain as compensation.
In the rule, the court also asked the government to show cause as to why they should not be directed to strictly enforce the relevant laws and rules for free movement of the people in the streets.
After Rajib’s death, Barrister Kazal filed a supplementary petition in the court demanding compensation for his family members.
