The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has allowed the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to move an appeal before this court against a High Court verdict that asked the authorities concerned to remove all the hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments from Hatirjheel-Begunbari project area in Dhaka.
The apex court also extended its earlier order that on November 7 last year asked the authorities concerned to maintain the status quo on evicting business structures in the project till dispose of the appeal petition.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order on Monday following a leave to appeal petition filed by Rajuk challenging the HC verdict.
Following the SC order, no structure can be evicted from Hatirjheel project until further order, said lawyer Manzill Murshid who appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioner.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Advocate Imam Hassan appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the Rajuk.
On June 30 in 2021, the High Court declared the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project in the capital as a ‘public trust property’ and all kinds of commercial establishments including hotels, restaurants and shops in the project area as illegal.
The court cancelled the allotment of all the hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments in the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project area as those are illegal and the court asked the authorities to remove all kinds of commercial establishments from the project area within 60 days after receipt of the copy of the verdict.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil delivered the verdict after holding a hearing on a writ petition filed in this regard.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha was inactive even though activities of illegal establishments were going on outside the original plan of Hatirjheel.
In this circumstance, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights organisation, filed a writ petition with the High Court as a public interest litigation annexing a news report published on August 1 in 2018.
Following the petition the High Court on September 10 in 2018 issued a ruling and directed the authorities concerned to demolish and remove structures built beyond the layout plan of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project in Dhaka within seven days.
In the ruling, the court wanted to know from the respondents to explain as to why the failure or inaction of the respondents to protect the Hatirjheel-Begunbari Project as per its original layout plan should not be declared illegal.
Later the High Court passed some more orders over the issue and after a final hearing on the ruling, the court delivered the verdict declaring the ruling absolute.
