Dhaka -The High Court (HC) Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition of tannery owners that sought HC permission to operate their factories at Hazaribagh in Dhaka till Eid-ul- Azha.The bench comprising Justice Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Salim passed the order after hearing arguments from the lawyers of the tannery owners.
Earlier, on March 23, the Tannery Owners Association and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association jointly filed the petition with the HC.
On March 6, the HC ordered the Director General (DG) of the Department of Environment (DoE) to snap utility service connections, including gas, power and water, to the tanneries as they were damaging the environment violating its directives.
The HC order of March 6 will remain in force following the order of Wednesday, Sayeed Ahmed Kabir, a counsel for the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association (BELA), told the newsmen.
Now the DG of DoE will have to submit a report before the HC about compliance of its directives by April 6, he added.
