Staff Reporter :
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday cleared the way for removing all structures, excluding those set up by the government to serve public interest, from four rivers surrounding Dhaka.
The rivers in question are the Shitalakkhya, Balu, Turag and Buriganga.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain ruled against the appeals on Monday.
After rejecting the five review petitions, the Appellate Division of the SC upheld its earlier verdict that had asked the government to remove all structures from the four rivers.
Five commercial companies, which established jetties in the Shitalakkhya, filed the petitions with the SC on different date in 2010 to review its order so that their jetties are not removed.
The companies are City Sugar Industries Ltd, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Ltd, Kamal Vegetable Oil Ltd, Molla Salt Industries Ltd and Cimex Cement BD Limited.
With the dismissal of the review petitions, the apex court on Monday affirmed its 2010 judgement.
In May 2010, the SC Division upheld the High Court judgement directing the government to remove all structures from the four rivers, excluding those set up by the government for the public interest.
In June 2009, the HC had delivered a land mark verdict directing the government to remove all structures from the four rivers, excluding those set up by the government for public interest.
The verdict came following a writ petition filed by Manzil Murshid on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
Seven commercial companies, including the above mentioned five companies, had filed separate appeals with SC against the HC verdict so that their jetties were not removed from Shitalakkhya. On May 3, 2010, the SC rejected the appeals and upheld the HC verdict.
Murshid during the hearing pointed out that the notice did not order the businesses to shut down but to remove their structures from within the river.
“This will not shut down their factories and lead to workers losing jobs. This logic is an attempt to protect the illegal structures,” he said.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday cleared the way for removing all structures, excluding those set up by the government to serve public interest, from four rivers surrounding Dhaka.
The rivers in question are the Shitalakkhya, Balu, Turag and Buriganga.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain ruled against the appeals on Monday.
After rejecting the five review petitions, the Appellate Division of the SC upheld its earlier verdict that had asked the government to remove all structures from the four rivers.
Five commercial companies, which established jetties in the Shitalakkhya, filed the petitions with the SC on different date in 2010 to review its order so that their jetties are not removed.
The companies are City Sugar Industries Ltd, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Ltd, Kamal Vegetable Oil Ltd, Molla Salt Industries Ltd and Cimex Cement BD Limited.
With the dismissal of the review petitions, the apex court on Monday affirmed its 2010 judgement.
In May 2010, the SC Division upheld the High Court judgement directing the government to remove all structures from the four rivers, excluding those set up by the government for the public interest.
In June 2009, the HC had delivered a land mark verdict directing the government to remove all structures from the four rivers, excluding those set up by the government for public interest.
The verdict came following a writ petition filed by Manzil Murshid on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
Seven commercial companies, including the above mentioned five companies, had filed separate appeals with SC against the HC verdict so that their jetties were not removed from Shitalakkhya. On May 3, 2010, the SC rejected the appeals and upheld the HC verdict.
Murshid during the hearing pointed out that the notice did not order the businesses to shut down but to remove their structures from within the river.
“This will not shut down their factories and lead to workers losing jobs. This logic is an attempt to protect the illegal structures,” he said.
