UNB, Dhaka :
The High Court on Tuesday issued contempt of court rule against 12 senior government officials for violation of an earlier ruling against building any infrastructure on the lands of Forest Department in Cox’s Bazar district.
The officials are Environment Secretary M Shafiqur Rahman, Housing Secretary M Golam Rabbani, Land Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman, Civil Aviation Secretary Khurshid Alam Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation M MAkhsudul Hasan Khan, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner M Abdullah, director general of Department of Environment (DoE) M Raisul Alam Mandal, deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar Ruhul Amin, police superintendent Azad Miah of the district, Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Shahidul Islam and DoE director (Chittagong) M Zafar Alam.
The court asked the officials to explain in two weeks why punitive action should be taken against them on contempt of court charge.
A bench comprising Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Md. Ashraful Kamal issued the rule after preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
BELA petitioned the court following news published in the daily Bonik Barta on December 27 last year under headline-‘Housing Project on the lands of Forest Department in Cox’s Bazar’.
The report says that defying the court order, housing project is being built in
Kalatali area of Cox’s Bazar cutting 51 acres of forest, adding that over 100 infrastructures have already been built.
Earlier, BELA served legal notices twice to the 12 government officials to comply with the court order and halt the housing project.
As they did not respond to the legal notices, the organization lodged the writ petition with the HC.
The High Court on Tuesday issued contempt of court rule against 12 senior government officials for violation of an earlier ruling against building any infrastructure on the lands of Forest Department in Cox’s Bazar district.
The officials are Environment Secretary M Shafiqur Rahman, Housing Secretary M Golam Rabbani, Land Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman, Civil Aviation Secretary Khurshid Alam Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation M MAkhsudul Hasan Khan, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner M Abdullah, director general of Department of Environment (DoE) M Raisul Alam Mandal, deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar Ruhul Amin, police superintendent Azad Miah of the district, Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Shahidul Islam and DoE director (Chittagong) M Zafar Alam.
The court asked the officials to explain in two weeks why punitive action should be taken against them on contempt of court charge.
A bench comprising Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Md. Ashraful Kamal issued the rule after preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
BELA petitioned the court following news published in the daily Bonik Barta on December 27 last year under headline-‘Housing Project on the lands of Forest Department in Cox’s Bazar’.
The report says that defying the court order, housing project is being built in
Kalatali area of Cox’s Bazar cutting 51 acres of forest, adding that over 100 infrastructures have already been built.
Earlier, BELA served legal notices twice to the 12 government officials to comply with the court order and halt the housing project.
As they did not respond to the legal notices, the organization lodged the writ petition with the HC.
