BGMEA gets 6 months for relocation

The Appellate Division on Sunday ordered the demolition of the BGMEA Bhaban, illegally built encroaching upon the Hatirjheel Lake in the capital, in six months.
A three-member bench chaired by Chief Justice SK Sinha passed the order disposing of BGMEA petition seeking three years’ time to relocate its office.
Lawyers said that the apex court order means that the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association got six months to relocate its office.
BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman told reporters Sunday afternoon that they , would relocate their office in a new building at Uttara before the demolition.
The BGMEA petition was moved by its lawyer Kamrul Hoque Siddiqui.
The apex court reprimanded the petitioner for wasting time since 2011 when the High Court Division had ordered the demolition of the BGMEA Bhaban.
The apex court called it baffling why the BGMEA took no initiative to relocate its office even after June 2, 2016 when its appeal was rejected.
The six-month time frame would be counted from Sunday, attorney general Mahbubey Alam told reporters.
Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid told reporters that Rajuk would have to demolish the BGMEA Bhaban in six months in the event of BGMEA’s failure to do it.
On April 3, 2011, the High Court Division had ordered the government to demolish the illegally built
BGMEA Bhaban within 90 days and termed it as ‘a cancerous growth’ eclipsing the capital’s landmark lake Hatirjheel.
On June 2, 2016, the apex court rejected BGMEA’s appeal against the HC order.
Later, the apex court rejected BGMEA’s review petition.
BGMEA failed to produce any document in the court to show that it owns the land on which the BGMEA Bhaban had been built.
On October 3, 2010, the HC in a suo moto order directed the government to explain why it should not be directed to demolish BGMEA Bhaban as it had been built illegally on government land in complete violation of the laws for the conservation of environment and the capital’s wetlands.
A New Age report published on October 2, 2010 under the headline ‘No plan to demolish unauthorized BGMEA building soon’ had brought the issue to the fore. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.com