Jil Hossain passed away, his legal battle continues

Jil Hossain underwent a legal battle for 47 years of his 72-year-life. Initially he fought for his university certificate and then for compensation.

Although Jil Hossain has passed away, his legal battle is not over yet.

His family members are continuing with the battle even three years after his death. The family’s wait for justice is not over yet.

According to family members and case documents, Jil Hossain was born on 7 January 1950.

He was an undergraduate (agriculture) examinee in the 1971-72 sessions of the Bangladesh Agricultural University. The exam was held in 1973.

However, the university authorities declared him failed in the result. Later, Jil Hossain appealed to the academic council seeking review of his result. However, that appeal did not come to any work.

In 1975, Jil Hossain sat for the examination again but was expelled. Seeking redress, he filed a case with the First Munsiff Court in Mymensingh on 22 April 1975.

In the lawsuit, he claimed that his marks (in the exam taken in 1973) included a fractional score. However, the university authorities failed to include the fraction with the total marks and declared him failed.

That was the beginning of the legal battle. He later moved to the High Court and continued the case there year after year seeking justice. Jil Hossain lived in the Chilgachha village in Sirajganj Sadar upazila with his wife and eight children. He ran small businesses.

On 21 February 2022, Jil Hossain died before the case was settled. Since then, his wife and children are running the case on his behalf.

Speaking to Prothom Alo last Saturday, Jil Hossain’s youngest son Nur Hossain said, “My father could not live to see the High Court verdict. My father is no longer with us, and it pains my heart. I heard from him that in the course of pursuing the case, he lost many things, including land.”

She alleged, “My father’s life was ruined due to the negligence of the university authorities, and we too are suffering.”

Nur Hossain further said, “My brothers and my mother are running the case now. My mother is 69 and is suffering from various old age complications. We have doubt whether she will be able to see the final verdict in her lifetime. The leave to appeal of the university authorities waits for hearing at the Appellate Division. It’s quite painful to see that the university authorities do not have any remorse even after my father’s death."

Jil Hossain was 23 years old when he was a final-year student of the old curriculum in the second phase of the undergraduate (agriculture) programme at Bangladesh Agricultural University. He won the case filed in the Munsiff Court in Mymensingh.

On 29 September 1975, the court declared the decision of the academic council invalid. At the same time, the court also ruled it illegal to declare him failed without adding the fractional marks.

However, Jil Hossain’s battle was far from over. The university authorities appealed against the verdict of the Munsiff Court with the judge court. Later on 31 January, this court also declared the order to expel Jil Hossain as illegal.

The same year, the university authorities appealed to the High Court. On 24 August 1976, the High Court sent the case back to the First Munsiff Court for retrial. Later, on 24 January 1978, the First Munsiff Court directed the publication of Jil Hossain’s examination results within 30 days after adding the fractional marks.

The university authorities then appealed against this to the District Judge Court, which was rejected. Later, the Bangladesh Agricultural University authorities appealed to the High Court. On 16 January 1983, a verdict was delivered upholding the decision of the lower court.

According to the family members and people relevant to the case, following the High Court verdict the university authorities accepted the appeal of Jil Hossain.

He was later issued a mark sheet with passing marks on 22 October 1997. At that time, Jill Hossain was 47 years old, and the age limit for his government service had long since passed.

Subsequently, on 18 October 2000, Jill Hossain filed a case in the lower court claiming compensation. In the case, he alleged that the High Court’s verdict had been enforced by the university 14 years and 9 months later.

He said the university’s delay had ruined his life and destroyed his prospects for a government career.

In this compensation case, the First Joint District Judge Court in Mymensingh delivered its verdict on 26 August 2008. The court directed the university authorities to pay Jill Hossain Tk 20 million as compensation within 30 days.

Against the verdict of the lower court, the university authorities appealed to the High Court in 2009. Consequently, on 4 June 2009, the High Court stayed the First Joint District Judge Court in Mymensingh’s order to pay Tk 20 million in compensation, subject to conditions. As a condition, the university authorities were required to deposit 12.5 per cent of the Tk 20 million, that is Tk 2.5 million, with the relevant court within three months. The order stated that failure to do so would result in the stay being revoked.

The lawyer concerned said that when the appeal hearing was scheduled after Jill Hossain’s death, the High Court’s instruction from 13 years earlier—directing the university authorities to deposit 12.5 per cent of Tk 20 million with the relevant court—resurfaced. In this context, the High Court asked the appellant to deposit Tk 2.5 million. The university authorities later deposited the amount on 4 November 2022.

In 2023, Bangladesh Agricultural University filed a leave to appeal against the High Court’s verdict, simultaneously seeking a stay of the verdict. The application was taken up for hearing in the Appellate Division on 8 October 2023. On that day, the six-member Appellate Division, led by the then Chief Justice, rejected the application for a stay, stating in the order that the leave to appeal would be heard in due course. Subsequently, the leave to appeal was placed at number 507 on the Appellate Division’s schedule for hearing on 31 August.

On 9 March 2023, lawyer Chanchal Kumar Biswas was appointed to represent Jill Hossain’s family in the Supreme Court. He was appointed by the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee. Chanchal Kumar Biswas told Prothom Alo that the Appellate Division dismissed the university authorities’ application seeking a stay of the High Court’s verdict. Following this, the heirs of the plaintiff appealed lower court to proceed with the ongoing case, filed in 2009, for the recovery of the amount.

Chanchal Kumar Biswas said that the university authorities are repeatedly taking time, citing that the leave to appeal is pending. As there is no stay from the Supreme Court, there is no legal obstacle to proceeding with the case. Yet the case is not moving forward, causing more sufferings for Jill Hossain’s family.

Senior lawyer A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon, appointed on behalf of Bangladesh Agricultural University, told Prothom Alo, “The matter is pending in the Appellate Division. When a case is pending, proceedings in the lower court are generally stayed according to standard rules. There is also a Supreme Court ruling on this. We are ready for the hearing.”