Staff Reporter :The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court’s order on demolishing the BGMEA building situated at Kawran Bazar Hatirjheel project in the city. A four-member bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order rejecting the leave to appeal against the High Court order. The court said, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) building, the headquarters of the organization was constructed violating laws meant to Wetlands Protect Act and ordered its demolition. A bench of High Court comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain issued the order on April 3 in 2011 to demolish the structure after holding hearing on a suo motu rule over the legality of the building on environment concern. In the verdict, the court also directed the BGMEA to return the money to the buyers of spaces or flats of the building within one year of the refund claim. The court also mentioned that, as the BGMEA had no rights to construct the building at the precise spot and sell any of its space, the deal with the buyers was illegal. The court came up with the decision that the building was hindering the water flow of Begunbari canal and hampering Hatirjheel project, which is a cancer for the project as well as for the Dhaka City. As per the previous order, the BGMEA building will be demolished within 90 days and the land will be used in public interest. “BGMEA, the apex body of garment manufacturers association is an important organization, they should have been more respectful to law,” said Advocate Manzil Murshid, an environment worker and president of Human Rights and Peace For Bangladesh (HRPB). According to the allegations, the building did not adhere to the city development law of 1953. The garment factory owners’ also violated the building construction law of 1952 as the real estate regulator; Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkho (RAJUK) had not approved the building’s design, the allegation added. In the order, the court asked the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka District and Inspector General of Police to investigate how the building was constructed violating the rules. In its observation, the court said, “Bangladesh Railway was the owner of the land and it was handed over to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in 2006. The documents, the BGMEA authorities had submitted to the court, claimed that they had purchased the land from EPB in 2001, needs fair investigation.” Following a special report published in a national English daily, the High Court issued a rule on October 3, 2010 asking the government to explain as to why the structure should not be pulled down.
