RHD on SC Land
HC summons 3 ministry officials
Tension runs high at Roads and Highways Department (RHD) as the High Court summoned three communications ministry officials today for failing to hand over Supreme Court's land, currently housing RHD, as per its earlier directive.
Communications Secretary MAN Siddique, Chief Engineer Aminur Rahman Laskar and Superintendent Engineer (admin and evaluation) Faridul Alam are scheduled to appear by 10:30am and explain why contempt charges should not be brought against them.
A division bench comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim passed the order on Tuesday after hearing a contempt of court petition filed by SC lawyer Asaduzzaman Siddiqui.
On July 28 last year, following a writ petition by advocate Manzill Murshid, the HC passed an order asking RHD to hand over the 7.9-acre land in 15 days.
Established 30 years ago, RHD built several structures on the premises, also called Sarak Bhaban, including its offices, a library and a 323-seat auditorium.
The ministry runs its main activities through RHD covering 21,000 kilometres of roads and highways and several hundred bridges.
Large projects like upgrading Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways, Eastern Bangladesh Bridges Improvement Project and Road Network Improvement and Management Project 1 and 2 are being implemented from Sarak Bhaban.
Initially the ministry tried off-the-court discussions with the HC but the latter remained unchanged in its verdict.
With 1,500 fulltime employees and officials and tonnes of official documents, RHD officials found themselves struggling to figure out how to shift the office and continue their work.
The issue was the main topic for discussion at Sarak Bhaban throughout the day yesterday. Many said they were seriously considering mass resignation.
“There will be disaster in the communications sector if we are asked to vacate immediately,” said an additional chief engineer.
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