Compensate Tareque’s family: HC

The High Court Division on Sunday directed the owners of the bus, its driver and an insurance company to pay Tk 4,61,75,452 as compensation to the family of filmmaker Tareque Masud who was killed under the wheels of the bus in 2011.
The owners, the driver and the insurance company were asked to pay the compensations within three months. 
The court order requires three owners of the bus of Chuadanga Deluxe Kashed Miah, his younger siblings Mujibul Haque Khokon, and Jahnagir Kabir Tuhin to pay Tk 4,30,95, 452 as compensations to the victim’s family members.
Driver Jamir Hossain was asked to pay Tk 30 lakh as compensations to them while Reliance Insurance Company to pay Tk 80,000 as compensations to the victim’s family members.
Cannes award winning filmmaker Tareque Masud, former ATN news chief executive officer Mishuk Munier and three others were killed on the spot when a bus belonging to the Chuadanga Deluxe Bus Service collided with a microbus carrying them on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway at Joka, Manikganj on August 13, 2011. 
The bus owners, the driver and the insurance company were directed to pay the compensations to Tareque Masud’s widow Catherine Masud, son Nishad Bingham Putra Masud and mother Nurunnahar Masud.
The compensation payable by the Reliance Insurance Company includes Tk 50,000 for damaging the microbus, Tk 20,000 for causing Tareque’s death and Tk 10,000 for causing his injuries that led to his death. 
The court said it fixed the compensation amount to cover the loss of Tareque on whom his survivors depended, their love and affection and the victim’s medical and funeral cost.
The court said that Tareque’s mother will get Tk 10 lakh as a dependent.
The verdict, first of its kind, was delivered by a bench of Justice Zinat Ara and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo over three days, beginning on Wednesday.
On February 22, a trial court in Manikganj handed life term to driver Jamir Hossain finding him guilty of reckless driving that caused the deaths of Tareque Masud, Mishuk Munier and three others.
In 2012, Catherine Masud filed a lawsuit with a Manikganj based Accident Claim Tribunal claiming Tk 7.76 crore as compensation for the death of her husband Tareque Masud.
A year later, Mishuk Munier’s wife Munajli Munier and their son Suday Munier filed another lawsuit with the same tribunal claiming Tk 5.5 crore as compensation for Mishuk’s death. 
Following orders from the HCD, the tribunal transferred both the claim suits to the High Court Division in 2014.
In March 2016, the bench began hearing two compensation claim suits and on November 26, the hearing ended.
On Sunday the bench set February 4 for holding the next hearing in the other compensation claim suit.
Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain with her senior Kamal Hossain appeared for Catherine Masud in the HCD.
SC lawyer Abdus Subhan Tarafdar defended the bus owners and the driver.
Imran A Siddiq, Ihsan A Siddiq and Syed Mohammad Raihan Uddin defended Reliance Insurance Company. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net