The High Court on Monday directed the Department of Environment (DoE) to publish the names of individuals and institutions responsible for polluting the environment on their website within one week.
The court also directed the respondents to submit a report in the court within two weeks over compliance with the direction.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by a rights organisation, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
The court also issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain in four weeks as to why the inaction of the respondents in publishing the names of the individuals and institutions responsible for polluting the environment in the website of the department should not be declared illegal.
It also wanted to know in the rule as to why the respondents should not be directed to publish the names of the individuals and institutions responsible for polluting the environment in the website of the department.
Environment Secretary, Information Secretary, Director General of the Department of Environment and other respondents have been asked to comply with the rule.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the HRPB, while Assistant Attorney General Nasim Islam Raju represented the state.
The writ petition said the Department of Environment recently decided not to publish the names of individuals and institutions responsible for polluting the environment in the website of the department. The HRPB filed the writ petition with the HC challenging the decision of the DoE.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid said, “The authorities of the Environment Department are bound to publish all the information of the polluters according to the Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act and Section 4(2)(Cha) of the Environment Conservation Act and it will ease the controlling of environmental pollution. But the department has taken a stand in favour of the polluters in violation of the law.”
