Tazreen chairperson’s bail scrapped

The Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court has cancelled the bail of Tazreen Fashions chairperson Mahmuda Akter and ordered her to surrender within 15 days.

Judge Md Abdul Majid issued the order on Thursday and also sought explanation from two judicial magistrates over procedural error in granting the bail.

“Chief Judicial Magistrate Ismail Hossain and Senior Judicial Magistrate Tazul Islam have been show caused by the court,” said defence counsel Abu Bakar Farhad.

The senior magistrate sent Akter to prison on Feb 9 and the chief magistrate granted her bail the next day, but the District and Sessions Judge’s Court believes it is a procedural error, Farhad said.

At least 112 workers were killed and more than 200 suffered burns when a devastating fire swept through Tazreen Fashions' Ashulia factory on Nov 24, 2012.
Ashulia police station's sub-inspector Khairul Islam filed a case the next day charging unidentified persons.

On Dec 22 last year, police finalised the chargesheet in the cases over the incident, holding 13 responsible for the tragedy.

They have been charged with manslaughter and death caused by negligence under Sections 304 and 304 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The charge of death due to negligence (Under article 304a) was included in the case later along with that of sabotage by arson.

On Feb 9 this year, the court of Dhaka’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Tazul Islam sent Tazreen chairperson Akter and her husband Delwar Hossain, who is the company's managing director, to prison after the couple surrendered.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court granted Akter conditional bail the next day, but rejected the bail plea of Hossain.
He was denied bail in the District and Sessions Judge’s Court.

On Feb 12, the prosecution pleaded to the District and Sessions Judge’s Court to scrap Akter’s bail citing that she had been on the run for quite a while after the arrest warrant was issued.

It also said it was their negligence that caused the fire and they might intimidate witnesses if freed on bail.

The court heard the matter on Mar 13 and set Thursday (Mar 20) for the verdict.