Etihad Airways to pay two Bangladeshi women Tk 2 crore as compensation

Dhaka: A bench of the Bangladesh High Court has asked Etihad Airways to pay two Bangladeshi women Taka one crore each as compensation for harassment.

On June 28, 2011, the women -- en route to Canada by an Etihad Airways flight, were allegedly harassed by the airline staff at Abu Dhabi International Airport and were forced back to Dhaka at their own cost over a brawl that sparked, due to a fault of a staff member.

In the verdict, the High Court has observed that it is "crystal clear" from the foreign ministry probe report that officials and staff members concerned of Etihad Airways had made "unjust", "rude", "negligent", "unprofessional" and "uncourteous" behavior with the writ petitioner, Tanzeen Bristy, one of two victims and her mother at Abu Dhabi International Airport and forced them to go back to Dhaka at their own cost.

This was an "unreasonable" in "bad faith" "malafide" and an "arbitrary" act of Etihad Airways which is contradictory to the principle of fair and natural justice and is also illegal and beyond its jurisdiction, the HC bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil observed in the 192-pages full text verdict released on June 16.

The HC bench had announced the verdict following a writ petition filed by Tanzeen Bristy in July 2011 seeking its order for compensation and legal action against Etihad Airways for their harassment.

Following the same writ petition, the HC on July 14, 2011, issued a rule asking authorities of Etihad Airways to explain why they should not be directed to pay compensation to the victims and why appropriate action should not be taken against them.