Rana Plaza disaster case

Government rule requiring its clearance to proceed against any government official is standing against the completion of the legal process of the Rana Plaza disaster. We are surprised to learn that the Labour Ministry has refused to approve the inclusion of three of its officials in the charge sheet of the Rana Plaza case. A senior official at the ministry has reportedly said that there is "no legal and factual reason" to include the officials in the charge sheet as the case was filed for murder. We cannot agree.

These three persons were factory inspectors and were supposed to monitor factories and issue certificates of their safety and usability. In the case of Rana Plaza, they were in clear dereliction of duty as the building was not structurally fit to hold so many garment factories, which makes them complicit in the death of as many as 1,136 people. We wonder whether the Labour Ministry should offer legal opinion on a matter that can and should be proven only in the court of law. 

The law of the land should apply to the persons in question who should face trial where they can prove their case. We also want to reiterate our position that this particular law requiring government permission to indict its officials runs contrary to our constitution by putting a category of people above others in the eyes of the law and is a hindrance to establishing a society based on justice and fair play. It should be done away with at the earliest.