The Appellate Division has ordered the government to pay the owner of Moon Cinema Hall Tk 990 million, the present-day value of its land and establishments, in a case that goes back decades.
The case is related to a landmark court verdict that declared the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution unlawful.
An appellate bench of four headed by the Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued the order on Monday.
The finance ministry has agreed to pay the amount to Italian Marble Works, owner of the Moon Cinema Hall, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the court.
The court gave a deadline of Dec 8 to finish the payment process when the attorney general asked the court for three months to pay the amount, according to bdnews24.com.
Attorney General Alam and Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque represented the state. Advocate Ajmalul Hossain QC and Saifullah Mamun stood for the Moon Cinema Hall owner.
"We are tired of hearing the case. How long will you drag this on?" the chief justice asked when the attorney general presented the letter from the finance ministry agreeing to pay the amount.
“The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs will pay Italian Marble once it receives the funds from the finance ministry," said Alam.
The case will resume again in the Appellate Division on Dec 9, said Haque.
The Moon Cinema Hall owned by Bangladesh Italian Marble Works in Old Dhaka was declared abandoned during the 1971 Liberation War.
The industries ministry later appointed the Bangladesh Freedom Fighter Welfare Trust as its custodian. But Maksudul Alam, managing director of Bangladesh Italian Marble Works, claimed ownership of the property stalling the move.
BNP founder and former President Ziaur Rahman announced a decree in 1977 that blocked challenges against the government’s decisions to declare properties abandoned. Moon Cinema Hall also fell under the decree.
Italian Marble Works filed a writ petition with the High Court in 2000 challenging the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution that validated Martial Law Proclamation Orders between 1975 and 1979.
The High Court in a historical verdict on Aug 29, 2005 declared the taking of power by Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, Justice Abu Sadat Mohammed Sayem and Maj General Ziaur Rahman unconstitutional and unlawful.