Court dismisses MP Iqbal's petition against Dr Yunus

A Dhaka court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking the filing of a criminal case against former Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus and four former health officials over allegations that delays in importing measles-rubella vaccines endangered children's lives and contributed to child deaths.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam rejected the petition, stating that it lacked sufficient grounds for taking cognizance of the complaint, court officials said.

The petition was filed by former lawmaker Sheikh Mojibur Rahman Iqbal of Kishoreganj-5 (Bajitpur-Nikli). After recording the complainant's statement, the court kept the matter under consideration before issuing its order.

Besides Dr. Yunus, the petition named former Health Adviser Nur Jahan Begum, former Health Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman, former Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sayedur Rahman, and former Director General of Health Services Prof. Dr. Md. Abu Jafar as accused.

According to the complaint, the accused failed to ensure the timely import of measles-rubella vaccines, allegedly causing a nationwide shortage that left large numbers of children without scheduled immunization and contributed to a measles outbreak.

The petitioner alleged that the interim government discontinued the long-standing practice of procuring vaccines through UNICEF and instead opted for an open tender process, resulting in delays in vaccine supply. The complaint further claimed that health authorities ignored repeated warnings about a potential shortage.

Citing information attributed to UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Rana Flowers, the petition alleged that the government had been warned several times about the risk of a vaccine crisis and was advised not to halt the existing procurement mechanism.

The complaint claimed that between March 15 and June 4, a total of 75,708 children were hospitalized with measles and that approximately 610 children died during the period. It further alleged that many additional cases went unrecorded in official statistics.

The petitioner argued that the accused officials' alleged negligence and policy decisions put thousands of children at risk, caused significant suffering to families, and imposed a financial burden on the state. Despite emergency measures taken later to address the vaccine shortage, the petition contended that responsibility for the damage caused could not be avoided.
The court, however, declined to accept the complaint and dismissed the petition.