The trials in 11 cases filed with the Labour Court following the Rana Plaza collapse have yet to begin even though one year has passed since the deadly incident took place.
The Labour Ministry lodged the cases against its owner Sohel Rana, his father Abdul Khaleque, and the owners and top officials of the five garment factories housed in the building.
The eight-storeyed building situated beside the Savar-Dhaka highway collapsed on the morning of April 24, last year, leaving at least 1,135 people, mostly workers of the five garment factories housed in that faulty building, dead and over 2,500 injured.
The accused were charged with keeping the authorities in the dark over the appearance of cracks on the building before the collapse and with negligence in ensuring safety in the workplace.
As the trials have been delayed since the police have not submitted their reports, the affected workers and labour rights leaders have expressed their doubt about whether justice will be achieved in time.
Of the 11 cases, Sakib Mubarrat, an inspector of the Labour Court, filed five cases on April 25, 2013 under the applicable sections of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006. Md Shahidul Islam, another inspector, filed six separate cases on April 28.
The accused include Chairman Bazlus Samad Adnan and Executive Director Delwar Ahmed of New Wave Bottoms and New Wave Style; Managing Director of New Wave Style Md Monir Hossain; Director of New Wave Bottoms AR Ayub Hossain; Chairman Aminul Islam and Managing Director David Mayor Rako of Phantom Tac and Phantom Apparels; Chairman of Ethertex Md Anisur Rahman and its Director Md Nazrul Islam; Ethertex and Phantom Tac Director Jannatul Ferdous; Phantom Apparels directors ABM Siddique and Suraya Begum; and Director of Phantom Apparels Zafar Ahmed.
Of the accused, Delwar, Aminul, Suraya and Siddique are now out on bail while the court issued arrest warrants for the other accused. But the warrants have not been executed as the accused are already in jail for other cases filed against them for homicide and flouting the building code.
Shah Alam, the bench assistant of the Labour Court, told the Dhaka Tribune that the maximum punishment in such cases is four years’ imprisonment and a fine of Tk1 lakh.
He also said: “Arrest warrants were issued against the accused including Sohel Rana and his father Abdul Khaleque. But the Savar police did not submit the execution reports before the court as warrants are not executed against someone already in jail.”
Shahidul Islam, the inspector of the Factory and Establishment Directorate under the Labour Ministry who is dealing with the cases, claimed that the trials have been delayed as all the factory owners have been in jail for other cases.
