The High Court (HC) has suspended the cutting of trees at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka, a historic park in the capital.
“Our order is that the hearing will come before this court on May 20,” said Justice Mamnoon Rahman, senior judge of the bench. The attorney general “should tell them, verbally, not to cut any trees in the meantime”.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin responded to this, saying: “I will speak to them immediately.”
The government has faced criticism for the new development project it has undertaken at the Suhrawardy Udyan, the site of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic speech delivered on Mar 7, 1971, reports bdnews24.com.
The project includes the construction of a restaurant and a walkway, among other structures in the area. Several mature trees were felled for the new project and several others are marked for clearance.
Photographs of the felled trees spread on social media and drew condemnation from several organisations. Protests have been held in the area over the clearing of trees from the historic site.
Plaintiff Manzill Murshid brought a ‘contempt of court’ allegation against Liberation War Affairs Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Public Works Department Chief Engineer Mohammad Shamim Akhter, and Architecture Department Chief Architect Mir Manzurur Rahman after a legal notice asking for an end to the clearing of trees failed to elicit a response.
The High Court bench of Justice Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman held a preliminary hearing on Tuesday to discuss whether those involved would be held ‘in contempt of court’ for continuing to cut trees while ignoring the notice.
In addition to the contempt of court allegation, Murshid had also requested a freeze on the cutting of trees and construction of the planned restaurant.
He also requested that the government submit a full account of all the structures it planned to construct as part of the project to the court.
