Explain why action won't be taken

The High Court yesterday asked the police authorities to explain in two weeks why they should not be ordered to take legal actions against Fareez Rahman, the underage driver of an SUV that hit two rickshaws in Gulshan, injuring four people.

The ruling came as law enforcers have not taken any action in this regard, even eight days after the incident.

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The police members who inspected the crash scene said Fareez, nephew of former Awami League lawmaker Dr HBM Iqbal, was racing with another car on a waterlogged Gulshan street and had been drinking before the crash.

Giving its ruling on a Public Interest Litigation, the HC further asked why departmental proceedings should not be taken against the officer-in-charge of Gulshan police for not carrying out his duty in this matter.

The rule was issued on the inspector general of police, the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, additional commissioner (traffic) of DMP, additional commissioner (investigation) of DMP and officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station, said Aneek R Haque, the lawyer who moved the petition.

The October 12 incident created quite a stir on social media, but police neither arrested Fareez, 16, nor filed any case against him.

Minutes after the accident, pictures of cops taking Fareez to Gulshan Police Station hit the social media. Police later freed him.

One of Fareez's friends gave this newspaper the selfies he took on his mobile phone while driving. A bottle of Chivas Regal was seen in a number of pictures.

Cops maintained that they could not arrest the boy without a court order as it was a non-cognisable offence.

But Supreme Court lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan dismissed the police claim and insisted that there were hundreds of examples where police arrested drivers from the spot and produced them before courts.

Police officials have also been claiming that the victims made agreements with Fareez's family that they would not seek legal action if they got the treatment costs.

But Lisa Dibra, a victim, and Shapla Begum, the wife of another victim, told The Daily Star that they did not make any agreement with the family.

Sirajul Islam, the Gulshan police OC, said he heard about the court order but did not receive any copy of it.

"I will discuss it with senior officials and make a decision about it after getting the [court] documents," he told this correspondent by phone.

The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir passed the order after hearing the petition filed by six lawyers -- Md Omar Farouq, KH Bahar Rumi, Mahfuz-Bin-Yousuf, Shamim Ara, Khondaker Nazmul Ahsan and SM Aslam.

Aneek, who moved the petition, was assisted by two other HC lawyers -- Md Farid Uddin and Jyotirmoy Barua.