Ministers, SC judges are VIPs

A High Court bench today cleared the issue of VIP (very important person), saying that all the ministers and judges of the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court are VIP as per the relevant law.

“We never issued any directive on this issue. But some media misquoted us and published reports saying that we have passed an order [on the issue of VIP],” the bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader said.

The judges said this while hearing a writ petition filed in connection with the death of 13-year-old Titash Ghosh in an ambulance on a ferry on the way to Dhaka on July 25.

Earlier on July 31, the same bench had said the president and the prime minister of the country are the VVIPs (very, very important persons) and security issues are involved with regard to their movements.

The court also made few other observations about the issue of VIP which were misquoted by some media. 

Besides, the HC bench today directed the public administration secretary to submit an enquiry report on the incident of death of Titash Ghosh before it by October 23.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Attorney General Abdullah-Al-Mahmud Bashar on behalf of the public administration secretary sought time from the HC for submitting the enquiry report.

On July 31, the HC directed the public administration secretary for appointing an officer, not below the rank of additional secretary, to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report before the court in three weeks, and set August 28 for the next hearing and passing further orders in this regard.

Advocate Zahir Uddin Limon, chairman of Legal Support and People’s Rights, filed the petition with the HC on July 30 seeking its directives on the government to compensate Tk 3 core to the family of Titash. 

Titash Ghosh, 13, a student of Kalia Pilot Secondary School in Narail, was critically injured in a motorbike accident in the district on July 24.

A day later, doctors of a local hospital referred him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for an emergency operation.

The family was taking him to Dhaka in an ambulance, which arrived at the Kathalbari Ferry Terminal in Munshiganj around 8:00pm on July 25.

A ferry called “Ferry Cumilla” was reportedly already at the pontoon, which had its gate closed and was not loading vehicles.

Ferry authorities said they were waiting for the arrival of Md Abdus Sabur Mondal, the head of Digital Service and Public Service Innovation Cluster and E-Service Implementation Specialist of the Access to Information (a2i) Programme at the Prime Minister’s Office.

The ambulance was stuck on the pontoon and could not reverse or shift to another hospital because of the queue of vehicles in front and behind it.

The ferry started loading vehicles around 10:20pm when the authorities learnt that the government official was close by. Around 11:00pm, the official arrived and the ferry started moving.

Titash died on the ferry, family sources said.