High Court orders Prothom Alo to pay Tk 100,000 for false reporting

The High Court has ordered Prothom Alo newspaper to pay a female worker Tk 100,000 for wrong news that she gave birth in the toilet of a factory in Gazipur.

After the news was run on May 10, a High Court bench on its own volition summoned the factory officials and instructed the local administration to investigate the matter.
 
Gazipur’s Kaliakoir UNO after an enquiry at the factory of Apex Footwear reported to the court that there was no truth to the incident as reported by the Bangla-language newspaper. 
 
Prothom Alo, in the meantime, admitted the error and ran an apology.
 
Based on the UNO’s report, the High Court bench of Justices Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman on Tuesday asked the daily to pay the amount to the female worker.

Deputy Attorney General Taposh Kumar Biswas told bdnews24.com, “The woman has been subject to social embarrassment because the true story was not published. 

“That is why the court has asked the corporate body... to give that woman Tk 100,000 within a month.”
 
The report that Prothom Alo published said the woman was forced to deliver her child in the toilet since the factory authorities did not grant her leave. 
 

The day the news was carried, the court summoned three factory officials besides asking the Kaliakoir UNO to submit a report within two weeks. 

On May 13, Prothom Alo said, “In fact, that woman worker did not apply for leave. She did not give birth to any child, but suffered a miscarriage.”

However, on May 24, the court exonerated the three officials - Apex Footwear’s Managing Director Syed Nasim Manzur, Administrative Officer Abdul Aziz, and Factory Lasting Section Supervisor Md Ratan Mia.