Court dissatisfied with govt

The High Court is dissatisfied over the government’s failure to report back to it about the treatment facilities provided to a Tazreen Fashions fire victim.

The bench of Justices Md. Rezaul Haque and ABM Altaf Hossain on Thursday ordered the Home Ministry, Labour and Employment Secretary and the Director General of the Directorate of Drug Administration to report on the matter by Oct 7.

The lawyer who moved the petition was also asked to send the copy of the order to the defendants.

The HC on Sep 23 ordered the government to look after the treatment of Sumaiya Khatun, a Tazreen factory worker who was injured in the deadly fire that left over 100 of her colleagues dead on Nov 25 last year.

The three defendants were asked to report back to court on Sumaiy’s treatment by Oct 1.

The report was not submitted until Thursday afternoon.

In his argument on Sept 23, the petitioner lawyer, Jyotirmoy Barua, had said Sumaiya developed cancer due to the lack of treatment to the injury she had suffered in the fire.

She was admitted to the United Hospital by some individuals after being without treatment for some time. But the cost of her treatment could not be borne by those individuals anymore.

The court directive comes following this argument.

“The court’s order was not followed. The court has given a new order,” said Barua.

Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy said they failed to reply to the court as the defendants had not filed their report.