Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed the government to take immediate steps to stop the activities of the factories which are using tannery wastes as ingredients in poultry and fish feed production.
The court also directed to take legal steps against those who were involved in producing poultry and fish feed by using toxic tannery wastes and also submit a progress report to the HC in this regard by one month.
The High Court Bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashraful Kamal passed the order and issued a rule after hearing a supplementary petition.
Advocate Manzill Murshid appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner.
The lawyer said, “In a verdict on July 21 in 2011, the HC directed the authorities concerned to shut the factories and business enterprises which were using tannery wastes as ingredients in poultry and fish feed production. The HC directed to the six respondents to comply with the verdict. But on March 25, 2019, a report was published in a newspaper under the banner of “Ignoring court verdict : Poultry and fish feed production by using toxic wastes of tannery is not stopped”. Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights organization, recently filed a petition annexing the report.”
The HC issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government to explain as to why action should not be taken against the six respondents on the charge of contempt of court for not following the High Court verdict.
Secretaries of Industries, Commerce, Food, Health and Fisheries and IGP have to comply with the rule by May 9, 2019.
On December 7, 2016, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld a High Court (HC) verdict that had directed the government to stop use of tannery waste in poultry and fish feed production in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh area within a months.
A three-member Bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after dismissing an appeal filed by a poultry feed producing industry against the HC order.
In a verdict on July 21 in 2011, the HC directed the authorities concerned to shut the factories and business enterprises which were using tannery waste as ingredients in poultry and fish feed production.
The HC also directed the authorities to take legal action against the factories which were using tannery waste in producing poultry and fish feed at Hazaribagh in the capital.
It also asked the authorities concerned of government to prepare a guideline within two months in order to monitor and control whether tannery waste is being used in poultry and fish feed production in any manner.
The HC Bench delivered the verdict following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. The petition was filed on July 26 in 2010 following a report published in a national daily under titled ‘Toxic poultry feed poses health risk.’
