Toll tragedy: Government sent legal notice to compensate victims’ families

A human rights organization today served a legal notice to the government asking it to give Tk 1 crore as compensation to the families of those killed after a bus hit a private car at the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway toll plaza on December 27. .

The Law and Life Foundation Trust sent the legal notice through its lawyer Advocate Mohammad Humaun Kabir Pallob to the Chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the Additional Inspector General of Highway Police, requesting them to will provide an update in five days on measures taken to compensate victims’ families.

The organization claims in the legal notice that six people were killed when a Bepari Paribahan bus collided with a waiting vehicle at the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway toll plaza on December 27.

“According to article 32 of the Constitution, the right to life is one of the fundamental rights of the person. These deaths occurred in the tragic accident due to the extreme negligence of the bus owner, the driver, the transport authorities and the highway police.

“It was initially proven that the Bepari Paribahan bus did not have a fitness certificate. The driving license had long expired. Furthermore, the driver admitted that he used a drug called cannabis. Six people died in the accident due to extreme negligence of the competent authorities and the driver. As soon as the fitness certificate of the bus expired, the road transport authority should have canceled the registration of the bus and informed the relevant authorities responsible for checking whether the bus was fit. or not and also to check if the driver had a valid license,” the legal notice states.

He also said, on the other hand, that the owner of the bus committed extreme illegality and negligence by driving the improper bus on the road and allowing the driver to drive the bus without a valid license.

“Therefore, this accident is a result of the collective negligence of everyone, due to which six people died. It was their sole duty to take necessary measures to prevent any unwanted accident. It is clear from the reports published in the newspapers that “such an accident occurred and the deceased were deprived of their fundamental rights due to their extreme negligence, as a result, their families have been deprived for the rest of their lives. Therefore, they are entitled to receive Tk 1 crore as compensation,” he says. the legal notice.

It is necessary to prepare a list of all unfit vehicles and take legal action to avoid such accidents in the future, the advisory added.