SCBA erecting rooms on old building 'illegally'
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) is constructing some rooms on the roof of its old building in the city defying objections from the Public Works Department. Photo: Shawkat Jamil
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) is erecting tin-shed rooms on the roof of its office building defying objections from Public Works Department. Some lawyers seeking anonymity told The Daily Star the Bar leaders are constructing the extension to please a section of lawyers ahead of its executive body election on March 30 and 31. On February 7, PWD lodged a general diary with Shahbagh Police Station, saying it is too risky to put up a tin-roofed structure on the old building. According to the GD statement, the executive engineer of Dhaka PWD on February 2 had requested the association leaders to refrain from building the extension. Former SCBA secretary SM Rezaul Karim on February 19 told The Daily Star the office building is a PWD property. Nobody can bring any change to the building or repair it without approval from the department, Karim said adding the tin-shed structure is being built illegally. SCBA Secretary Bodruddoza Badal, however, said the rooftop tin house is for accommodating more lawyers and it is not risky at all. But in the GD statement PWD argues the three-storey building will be vulnerable and at risk of collapse if the tin house is erected. The 50-year-old structure will be unable to stand an earthquake. Badal said the association had consulted officials of PWD, Roads and Highways Department and Local Government and Rural Development. They opined the extension will not pose any danger. He said the Bar took the decision of constructing the additional room at a general meeting by common consent. SCBA Assistant Secretary Moshfaqur Rahman Sabuj, who won from pro-AL lawyers’ panel, said the secretary floated tender for the work never heeding his opposition. Following the filing of the general diary, police on Friday obstructed the work, the Bar said adding the GD was not a legal bar to construction. PWD has filed the GD at the instigation of some lawyers backed by ruling Awami League ahead of SCBA election, the association leader also said. The existing committee of the association is dominated by pro-BNP lawyers.
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