The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that directed Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan to pay Tk 5 lakh to each of the families of two students who were killed in a road crash on Dhaka's Airport Road on July 29 this year.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order, dismissing a petition filed by Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan seeking stay on the HC order.

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HC rejects Jabal-e-Noor's time prayer to pay Tk 5 lakh to victims' families

The apex court dismissed the petition as no lawyer for Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan was present in the courtroom during the proceedings, Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, who moved a writ petition before the HC, told The Daily Star.

The SC order means that the transport company will have to pay the amount of money to meet the immediate needs of the victims' families, he added.

The HC on July 30 directed Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan to pay Tk 5 lakh to each of the families of the two victims Rajib and Mim, students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College -- who were run over by a bus of the transport company the day before.

HC also asked the transport company to bear expenses for treatment of the nine injured students of the same college who were hit by the bus as it ploughed into a crowd at Kurmitola, within seven days to pay the money.

The HC on August 12 upheld its order and asked for the sum to be paid without delay, after a lawyer for Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan's owner sought time from the court saying that his client was in Saudi Arabia for performing hajj, and the company would pay the money after its owner returns to the country.

Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan recently submitted the petition to the SC seeking stay on the HC order.

Meanwhile, another writ petition seeking compensation of Tk 1 crore each to the families of the two deceased students is pending at the HC.