Court dismisses petition against 5 individuals including Yunus

A court has dismissed a petition seeking to file a case against five individuals, including Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the former Chief Adviser of the interim government, and Nurjahan Begum, the former Health Adviser. The petition had alleged failure in treating children affected by measles and negligence leading to child deaths due to a vaccine shortage.

On Monday (June 8) afternoon, following a hearing, the judge of the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court passed the order rejecting the application.

Earlier in the morning, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal, an independent Member of Parliament from the Kishoreganj-5 (Bajitpur-Nikli) constituency, had submitted the case petition to the court.

In addition to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the other accused named in the petition were former Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum, former Health Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman, the then Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Dr. Sayedur Rahman, and the former Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Abu Jafar.

The application alleged that the country witnessed child fatalities due to a shortage of measles vaccines and failures in medical management. It further claimed that delays in importing vaccines and administrative negligence had aggravated the situation.
Read More: Lawsuit filed against 5 individuals including Yunus and Nurjahan

The plaintiff, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal, argued that the situation turned critical due to the interim government's negligence and complications surrounding vaccine imports. He alleged that halting the conventional process of importing vaccines from international sources and subsequently switching to an open tendering process caused the delays, allowing the disease to spread nationwide.

He added, "Those responsible for this incident must face justice. We want to ensure that no future government shows negligence toward children's healthcare and immunization programs."

Notably, during a press conference held on May 20 regarding the measles vaccine situation, Rana Flowers, the UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh, stated that the interim government had been repeatedly warned about the potential vaccine crisis, noting that five official letters had been sent regarding the matter.

However, after reviewing the matter during the hearing, the court declined to accept the application and officially dismissed it.