The High Court (HC) on Thursday declared illegal the housing project of Ashiyan City in Uttara area in the capital. In response to a writ petition, a larger three-member bench of the HC delivered the verdict on the basis of majority. “After this verdict the Ashiyan City cannot continue with the housing project,” Petitioners’ counsel Advocate Iqbal Kabir Lytton told reporters after the HC verdict. Concerned lawyers also said that the HC declared the project illegal as the authorities concerned of the Ashiyan City implemented the project without securing any environment clearance certificate and by grabbing lands of locals.
Eight rights organisations filed the writ petition seeking HC directive saying that the Ashiyan City authorities had been filling and constructing structures on around 230 acres of land, although the company got Rajuk permission for developing only 43 acres of land.
The petitioners alleged that the Ashiyan City authorities grabbed land of locals for the projects violating concerned rules. The authority also violated the High Court’s directives issued earlier over the issue, the petitioners claimed.
In response to another writ petition, the HC on January 2 last year had asked the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) to take steps to stop activities of Ashiyan City which had a conditional and partial approval from the housing ministry to develop land in Holan and Ashkona.
It also issued a rule upon the relevant authorities from the government and Ashiyan City to explain why the issuance of the environmental certificates and their renewal should not be declared illegal.
Before the hearing of the rule, the rights activists submitted an application on May 29, 2013, apprehending that they would not get justice from the two-judge HC bench led by Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque.
In response to their application, the matter was sent to the chief justice for constituting a larger bench. Later on June 14, 2013, Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain formed a three-member High Court bench to decide the legality of activities of Ashiyan City housing project. Later, the larger bench of the HC started the hearing on the rule. After hearing on the rule, the HC yesterday declared the project illegal on majority views.
It may be mentioned that the HC in another verdict on June 2011 declared illegal the 78 private housing projects including the Ashiyan City, which were carried out their activities in and around Dhaka city.
The HC also banned publishing of advertisements of any housing projects in the print and electronic media on December, 2011. But, some housing projects continued their activities violating the HC directives, concerned lawyers alleged.
Courtesy of The Independent
