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Horihor Tea Estate

SC scraps HC order transferring land to Dutch Dairy

FE REPORT | June 18, 2021 00:00:00


The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Thursday cancelled a registered deed by which over 119 acres land of Horihor Tea Estate in Brahmanbaria was transferred in favour of a dairy farm named Dutch Dairy Limited.

The apex court at the same time scrapped a High Court (HC) ad-interim order that in 2019 directed a sub-registrar of Brahmanbaria to register within seven days 119 acres of land in favour of Dutch Dairy Limited without hearing the opposite party.

A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order Thursday after holding hearing on the leave to appeal petition filed by Horihor Tea Estate Company against the HC order.

Following a writ petition, a two-member HC bench of justices Ashfaqul Islam and Mohammad Ali on April 15, 2019 directed the sub-registrar of Brahmanbaria's Bijoynagar Upazila to register suf-kabala deed executed by Monisha Chakraborti and Amit Chakraborti in favour of Dutch Dairy Limited for transferring 119.85 acres of land in seven days without any fail.

The sub-registrar on May 23, 2019, registered the deed at a value of Tk 108.14 million to comply with the directive of the court and the High Court's directive was quoted in the registered deed.

The HC bench issued the ad-interim order after a rule asking the Bijoynagar Upazila sub-registrar to explain in four weeks as to why his refusal to register suf-kabala deed executed by Monisha Chakraborti and Amit Chakraborti in favour of Dutch Dairy Ltd. for transferring the 119.85-acre land should not be declared illegal.

The HC issued the order and the ruling after hearing a writ petition filed jointly by Monisha Chakraboriti, Amit Chakraborti and the Dutch Dairy firm.

Lawyers Sk Md Morshed, Md Asaduzzaman and Mohammad Bakir Uddin Bhuiyan appeared in the court on behalf of the tea company, while senior lawyer Qumrul Hoque Siddique represented the Dutch Dairy.

According to the case documents, Horihor Tea Estate bought the land from Monisha Chakraborti's family on June 07 in 1986. But in 2010, Monisha Chakraborti and her son Amit Chakraborti filed a civil case through their agent with the Joint District Judge's Court of Brahmanbaria seeking cancellation of deeds with the tea garden. But the case is still pending in the district court.

Later in 2018 Monisha Chakraborti and Amit Chakraborti again sold the land to the Dutch Dairy farm at the value of Tk 108.14 million. But the Bijoynagar sub-registrar office didn't register the deed as earlier purchaser of the land, Horihor Tea Estate, had a loan from Bangladesh Krishi Bank against the property.

Then Monisha Chakraborti, Amit Chakraborti and the new purchaser of the land, Dutch Dairy, moved to the High Court and filed a writ petition seeking its order upon the sub-registrar to register the deed executed by them.

Horihor Tea Estate on June 01 this year filed the leave to appeal petition with the Appellate Division against the HC order. After hearing on the petition the court cancelled the deed transferring the land to the dairy farm.

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