Trials in the two cases filed over the horrific Rana Plaza building collapse are still in their nascent stages six years after charges were framed against the accused and nine years after the industrial disaster itself.
The commercial building, built in a shoddy manner, came crashing down on the morning of April 24, 2013, leaving 1,136 people dead at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka. Various rights groups, worker organizations, and political parties are set to observe the ninth anniversary of the tragedy today.
Two separate Dhaka courts framed charges against 42 accused in two cases over the incident in 2016. The recording of witness testimonies in the murder case finally began early this year, while the trial in the building code violation case is yet to even begin.
Court sources told Dhaka Tribune the main reason for the delay in starting the cases was legal wrangling over the charges against the accused.
Building owner Sohel Rana, his parents Abdul Khaleque and Morjina Begum, and 34 others were charged with causing the deaths of the workers, while four others were charged with sheltering Rana and helping him flee.
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The murder case
Eight of the accused, including then Savar municipality mayor Refayet Ullah and councillor Mohammad Ali Khan, filed separate petitions challenging their indictment with the High Court after charges were framed on July 18, 2016. This prompted the High Court to order a stay on the trial proceedings.
It took six years to clear all the legal challenges.
After all the stay orders on the murder case were finally vacated, a Dhaka court began recording witness depositions on January 31. The complainant of the case and then sub-inspector of Savar police station Wali Ashraf testified first in the court of Dhaka District and Sessions Judge AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan, according to the court’s Additional Public Prosecutor Mizanur Rahman Sajal.
“The trial of the case was stuck due to stay orders of the High Court for a long time. But the recording of witness depositions in the case started in January this year after the HC vacated all the stay orders regarding the case,” he said.
A total of 594 people were made prosecution witnesses in the case, the additional public prosecutor added.
The building violation case
Anwarul Kabir Babul, additional public prosecutor at the High Court, said legal challenges were also the main cause behind the delays in the building violation case.
“On November 8, 2021, the High Court stayed the trial proceedings till November 7, 2022 following a petition of the accused in the case. We are trying our level best to start recording depositions in the case but the process is stuck due to legal complexities,” he said.
On July 18, 2016, the Dhaka Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court framed charges against 18 accused, including Sohel Rana, in the building violation case.
When asked about the stay orders, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said he was not up to date with the case but would take all necessary moves to help the cases reach a just conclusion.
