Dhaka – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the tannery owners to relocate their tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar byApril 6.A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief JusticeSurendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing on a petition, thetannery owners filed seeking a stay on the High Court order.
Besides, the apex court fixed April 9 for hearing petition on the fines, thetannery owners were asked to pay for not relocating their factories in time.
The High Court Division on Wednesday rejected a petition of the tanneryowners seeking permission to continue their activities at Hazaribagh in the capital until Eid-ul- Azha.
On March 2, a bench of High Court directed 154 tannery owners to pay Tk 30.65 crore fine for not relocating their factories to the Tannery Estate in Savar within the stipulated time.
On March 1, the Industries secretary submitted a list of 154 errant tannery owners who did not pay Tk 10,000 fine per day according to the court’s previous directives.
Earlier, on February 7, the secretary appeared before the court following its directive to explain his failure to collect Tk 10,000 per day from the tannery owners. On that day, the HC directed him to submit the list of the errant tannery owners.
On July 18 last, the High Court ordered each of the 154 tannery owners of Hazaribagh to pay the Government Tk 10,000 per day as fine for not relocating their factories to the Tannery Estate in Savar. The court also ordered the government to donate 50 percent of the fine to the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.
On January 10 last, the Industries secretary submitted a report before the court mentioning that 150 companies paid Tk 10,000 each in August last while four paid the fine for September while three others for October last.
As the Secretary failed to do his duties for collecting the fine, lawyer Manzill Murshid filed a petition seeking a summon order against the Secretary to give the explanation.
In 2001, the High Court passed an order for relocating the tannery industries from Hazaribagh of the capital.
The Government extended the relocation deadline several times, in response to requests from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the implementing agency of the tannery estate project. -Special Correspondent
