The state has sought stay order on a High Court verdict that said the family of Jihad, who died after falling into an abandoned pipe at Shahjahanpur Railway Colony, is entitled to compensation.
Chamber Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Hasan Foyez Siddiqui yesterday set tomorrow for hearing on the petition, filed on February 25.
“The petitioner’s counsels yesterday sought two days for taking preparation. The chamber judge has fixed the date accepting their request,” said Additional Attorney General Md Momtaz Uddin Fakir.
On February 18, the High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo gave the decision of compensation disposing of a previous rule issued on the matter.
The court said that it would publish details about the amount of compensation and the person to pay the money in its full verdict which is yet to be released.
The same bench in its rule on February 15 last year sought explanation from the government as to why the latter should not be directed to give the family of Jihad Tk30 lakh in compensation.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by Children’s Charity Bangladesh Foundation on December 28.
The order on compensation came at a time when a ruling party-backed ward councillor and a key accused of the case, filed by Jihad’s father, have been threatening the family to withdraw the case in exchange for some money.
Four-year-old Jihad died on December 26, 2014 after falling into an unprotected deep tube-well pipe dug by the railway authorities at Shahjahanpur Railway Colony.
Jihad’s father Nasir Uddin Fakir filed a case with Shahjahanpur police against seven to eight men naming Jahangir Alam, a senior sub-assistant engineer of Bangladesh Railway, and contractor Abdus Salam, owner of JSR House that installed the tube-well.
On April 17 last year, Inspector Abu Zafar of Shahjahanpur police submitted charge sheet against the duo accusing them of negligence in performing their duties properly. In legal terms it is culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
But the court ordered further investigation as Nasir filed a no-confidence petition with the court on April 21 alleging that the IO had deliberately dropped the names of several accused – Abu Zafar, Saiful Islam, Dipak Babu and Nasir Uddin – to divert the course of the lawsuit.
Police recently said that they would file the supplementary charge sheet in the case soon.
