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Due process of law was not followed in expelling five female students found guilty of torturing Phulpori Khatun, a student at Islamic University, a Supreme Court lawyer has said.
The vice chancellor and university authorities resorted to this ‘defect of law so that the order be void upon a legal course taken against by the expelled students against it, said the lawyer, who recently filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking its directives regarding the torturing of Khatun, during the hearing of the case in the High Court on Wednesday.
The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil held the hearing on the petition.
Earlier on the day, Islamic University lawyer and also Deputy Attorney General BM Abdur Rafell informed the HC that the IU authorities on July 15 expelled five of its female students for a year over their involvement in the torturing.
The students are Sanjida Chowdhury Antora of statistics department, Halima Akhtar Urmi of fine arts, Ishrat Jahan Meem of law, Tabassum Islam and Muabia Jahan of finance and banking. Antora is also a vice-president of IU Chhatra League.
Then writ petitioner lawyer, Gazi Md Mohsin, placed his argument before the court terming the expulsion order ‘not lawful’.
He also said, “As per the law of the university, the VC will punish them first with a fine of Tk 500 and expulsion for 12 months. If the VC feels that the conviction is less compared to the offence, then he will refer it to the Disciplinary Committee. However, it has become a defect of law as the VC sent the issue directly to the disciplinary committee avoiding the first option.”
Then the court asked the writ petitioner to place his arguments in a written form. It also asked the university lawyer to discuss it with the authorities and submit a fresh compliance with it. The court fixed July 26 for further hearing on the issue.
In an order on March 1 this year, the HC said the university administration will take action against the accused students, hall administration, and others according to the laws and rules of the university.
The IU authorities have also been asked to allot a seat for Phulpori Khatun in any room in any hall of her own choice so that she can resume her classes and academic activities, and provide security to the witnesses of the incident.
The court asked the vice-chancellor of IU, Kushtia, to submit a report before it after complying with the directives.
Phulpori alleged that BCL leader Sanjida and other BCL activists tortured her on the night of February 11 for staying at the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall without their “permission”. They allegedly tortured her from 11:00pm till 3:30am.
Upon learning through the media, the Supreme Court lawyer filed the writ petition seeking HC directives to probe the torturing and ensure security for the victim student.