bdnews24.com :The High Court has dropped contempt charges against three tannery owners on being informed of measures taken to implement its order on relocation of the factories from Dhaka’s Hazaribagh to Savar.The three are Mahbubur Rahman of Pubali Tanneries, Giasuddin Ahmed Pathan of Rumi Leather Industries and Md Akbar Hossain of Paramount Tanneries.The bench of justices Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and AKM Shahidul Huq on Monday relieved them of contempt charges for not shifting their factories and not appearing in court despite being summoned. In its 2001 verdict, the High Court had directed the government to ensure the relocation of tanneries within two years. After repeated extension of the deadline following State pleas over the years, on Jun 23, 2009, the court again fixed Feb 24, 2010 as a fresh deadline.When the factories did not move to Savar, the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) accused 10 tanneries of contempt of court. On Apr 21, 2015, the court summoned three including Industries Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. Bhuiyan later appeared before court and told it that 10 tanneries had een refusing to move despite repeated orders. The court recently summoned them, including the three excused of the contempt charges on Monday, to appear before it on Sunday for hindering the implementation of its 2001 judgment. After the owners of Pubali Tanneries, Rumi Leather Industries and Paramount Tanneries appeared before it, the bench kept them in its custody for over five hours on Sunday for not submitting their explanations on the failure to relocate the factories. The court later released the three after they tendered their unconditional apology.
