Contempt rule against 11 senior govt officers
The High Court yesterday issued a contempt of court rule against 11 senior government officers, including five secretaries, for not fully implementing its order on protecting the four rivers in and around the capital.
The HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice M Moazzam Husain issued the rule asking the officials to explain within four weeks why they should not be punished for violating its directives on making the rivers free from encroachment and pollution.
The officials who faced the petition are secretaries to the ministries of planning, finance, shipping, communications and water resources; directors general of departments of land record and survey, and environment; chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authoritiy; and deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur.
The bench issued the rule after hearing a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on July 10.
Additional Attorney General MK Rahman told The Daily Star that the hearing of the contempt of court will be held today at the same bench, as he opposed the issuance of the rule since the names of the contemnors are not specifically mentioned in the petition.
Asked whether the HC bench recalled its order, he said there is no question of recalling the order as the judges did not sign it.
HRPB's counsel Manzill Murshid, however, said the rule against the 11 high officials still remain in force and that he was not informed about any decision of the bench for further hearing on the petition.
On June 25, 2009, in response to a writ petition filed by HRPB the HC ordered the government officials to take steps to remove all structures, piles of garbage and deposits of sand and soil from the rivers, setup boundary pillars, construct walkways on the bank of the rivers and dredge those by November 30, 2010.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments