HC asks for appeal again on NCT deal

The High Court (HC) on Thursday discharged a rule that questioned the legality of the government action to award the container-handling contract of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) at the Chittagong Port to a foreign company.
The verdict was delivered by a single-member bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed after the end of the hearing on the rule, which had been issued earlier in response to a writ petition.
In December last year, a bench of the High Court delivered a dissenting judgment on the same writ petition.
Subsequently, the chief justice assigned the matter to a single-member bench for disposal.
With the single-member bench also rejecting the rule, the decision to discharge the rule has now been finalised by a majority view.
Barrister Md Anwar Hossen, one of the counsels representing the writ petitioners, told The Financial Express they had moved the apex court against the High Court verdict.
However, the chamber judge passed a "no order" on their petition and asked them to file a leave to appeal petition after the full verdict would be released by the High Court Division.
In the verdict, Justice Zafar Ahmed said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Public Private Partnership Authority and the UAE-based company DP World was signed following the due process of law.
It further said the process under which the work was being carried out fell within the Procurement Policy of 2017 and the MoU signed between the countries.
The policy allowed the direct selection as well as selection through tender in the execution of work, it said.
Such authority had been granted to the authorities concerned under the law, and the law itself was not challenged in this case, said the verdict.
Meanwhile, at a press conference held on Thursday at the Chittagong Press Club, Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal and the former Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) announced a two-day strike.
The strike was announced to protest against the government's move to lease the NCT to DP World.
As a result, all operational activities at the Chittagong Port will remain suspended from 8:00am to 4:00 pm tomorrow (January 31).
On Sunday, administrative activities will be shut down during the same hours.
Organisers said the next phase of the movement would be announced at 5:00pm on Sunday.
At the press conference, General Secretary of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal's Chittagong Port unit Ibrahim Khokon alleged that the government had completed all procedures to hand the NCT over to DP World amid nationwide political unrest.
The Awami League-led government signed a MoU with DP World on February 17, 2019, to operate the terminal under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) later moved to proceed with awarding the contract to the UAE-based company.
The legality of the initiative was subsequently challenged through a writ petition.
The petition was filed on March 20 by Bangladesh Jubo Arthanitibid Forum, a philanthropic organisation, as a public interest litigation.
Following a preliminary hearing on the petition, the High Court bench on July 30 questioned the government's decision to initiate a process to hand over the NCT's container-handling operations to a foreign operator.
After the final hearing, a division bench of the High Court delivered a dissenting judgment on the petition.
The chief justice then assigned the matter to a single-member bench for disposal. The NCT, constructed in 2007 at a cost of Tk 27.12 billion, handles a large share of the Chittagong Port's import and export containers.
The terminal was previously operated by Saif Powertec Limited, whose contract expired on July 6, 2025.
It is currently being run by Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, a Bangladesh Navy-owned company.
Lawyers Ahsanul Karim and Syed Mamun Mahbub appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioner, while Additional Attorney General Aneeq R Haque represented the state.
Lawyer Md Helal Uddin Chowdhury appeared in the hearing for the CPA, and Barrister Nasir Uddin Ahmed Ashim stood for Shahadat Hossain Selim, managing director of Berth Operator Everest Port Services Limited.

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