HC compensation order in limbo for 28 months

Victim families of a tragic 2003 launch accident in Meghna river are yet to get any compensation, nearly 28 months after the High Court directed authorities concerned for doing so.

An appeal against the HC verdict is pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in this regard, but there is no stay order on the HC judgement.

Launch MV Nasrin-1 capsized on July 8, 2003 at the confluence of Padma, Meghna and Dakatia rivers in Chandpur, leaving 110 people dead, about 200 missing and many others injured, according to a government investigation report.

The “unfit” triple-decker was on its way to Bhola from Dhaka with about 700 passengers. The launch owner also died in the accident.

On June 5, 2017, the HC upheld a lower court verdict that ordered Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and a launch owners’ association to pay out Tk 17.11 crore in compensation to victim families.

The family of each deceased would get Tk 10 lakh, and every injured victim would get Tk 1 lakh, the HC ruled.

Advocate ZI Khan Panna, a lawyer for Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), which is a party in the case, told The Daily Star on Thursday that BITWA and launch owners’ association have not given any compensation to victim families, as an appeal filed by them is pending with the SC’s Appellate Division.

“We will fight for upholding the High Court verdict when the Appellate Division holds hearing on the appeal, although victim families have not communicated with us,” he said.

BITWA and the launch owners’ association jointly filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division this year, seeking a stay on the HC verdict.

After a brief hearing, Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique on September 2 sent the petition to its full bench and set March 8, 2020 for hearing.

Advocate Ishrat Hossain, a lawyer for BITWA and the launch owners’ association, told this correspondent that her clients will not give the compensation until the apex court disposes of the petition and issue directives.

Following the launch accident, the deputy commissioner of Chandpur published a list of 400 people who were affected by the incident. Accordingly, the shipping and disaster trustee boards gave Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 to the deceased and injured person’s families.

In 2004, on behalf of the victims, BLAST filed a case with the 3rd Joint District Judge’s Court of Dhaka, claiming that the compensation was not adequate. More than Tk 28.93 crore was demanded in the case, where number of the deceased was mentioned as 171. The case was sent to the 7th Joint District Judge’s Court in 2012.

In its verdict on February 2, 2016, the court asked the government to give Tk 17.11 crore to the families of the affected people -- 170 deceased and one injured -- within 60 days.

BIWTA and the defendant, however, filed a revision petition against the verdict on October 24, 2016. The HC on June 5, 2017 rejected the petition and upheld the judgement.