HC declares valid scrapping lease of plots at Cox's Bazar beach
Friday, 23 July 2010
The High Court(HC) Thursday declared valid a government action that had scrapped the lease of 39 plots in the hotel-motel zone of Cox's Bazar sea beach allocated during the last BNP-Jamaat alliance rule, reports UNB.
Passing the judgment upon several identical writ petitions, a division bench comprising Justice M Momtazuddin Ahmed and Justice Naima Haider discharged the rules with a six-point directive.
On January 12 this year, the Awami League-led grand alliance government scrapped the lease of 59 plots on about 60 acres of land in the hotel-motel zone of Cox's Bazar sea beach.
The lease agreements of the plots were scrapped for violating the conditions of long-term lease.
The High Court in its directives asked the Director General of the Department of Environment (DoE) to take steps for demarcating and officially declaring the Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) as defined under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 and submitting a report to the court within six months.
As per the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, the ECA is an environment protection zone where ecosystem is considered to have reached a critical state.
In April 1999, Director General of DoE officially declared an area of nearly 400 square kilometres as ECAs, including Teknaf Peninsula covering Cox's Bazar sea beach but not the buffer zones.
The HC also asked the authorities to appoint a director for protecting the area and display a signboard marking the area as ECA.
In addition, the HC allowed the disappointed writ petitioners to take back their earnest money against the lease if they wish and their applications would be considered during any such offer of lease in future.
After coming to power in 1996, the Awami League government took up a plan to build an international standard hotel-motel zone on about 112 acres of government land along the Cox's Bazar sea beach. Before leaving power, the then government had prepared a design of 107 plots of one acre each.
The BNP-Jamaat alliance government that assumed office in 2001 then distributed plots among its ministers, lawmakers, their relatives and party leaders and workers. The proposed hotel-motel zone has since been known as BNP Palli.
After returning to power, the present Awami League-led government formed a four-member parliamentary sub-committee headed by Moinuddin Khan Badal to investigate any irregularities over lease.
After visiting Cox's Bazar several times, the sub-committee completed its investigation in June last year and submitted its report to the highest level of the government about the irregularities.
Those whose allotments were scrapped include Faisal Morshed Khan, son of former foreign minister M Morshed Khan, former lawmaker from Magura Kazi Salimul Huq Kamal, former deputy minister for land Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, former Chhatra Dal president Habibun Nabi Sohel, former MP from Cox's Bazar-2 Alamgir M Mahfuz Ullah Farid, Shahin Chowdhury, wife of Cox's Bazar district BNP president and former lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury, and Mahbub Anam, brother-in-law of former lawmaker from Cox's Bazar-3 M Shahiduzzaman.
Passing the judgment upon several identical writ petitions, a division bench comprising Justice M Momtazuddin Ahmed and Justice Naima Haider discharged the rules with a six-point directive.
On January 12 this year, the Awami League-led grand alliance government scrapped the lease of 59 plots on about 60 acres of land in the hotel-motel zone of Cox's Bazar sea beach.
The lease agreements of the plots were scrapped for violating the conditions of long-term lease.
The High Court in its directives asked the Director General of the Department of Environment (DoE) to take steps for demarcating and officially declaring the Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) as defined under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 and submitting a report to the court within six months.
As per the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, the ECA is an environment protection zone where ecosystem is considered to have reached a critical state.
In April 1999, Director General of DoE officially declared an area of nearly 400 square kilometres as ECAs, including Teknaf Peninsula covering Cox's Bazar sea beach but not the buffer zones.
The HC also asked the authorities to appoint a director for protecting the area and display a signboard marking the area as ECA.
In addition, the HC allowed the disappointed writ petitioners to take back their earnest money against the lease if they wish and their applications would be considered during any such offer of lease in future.
After coming to power in 1996, the Awami League government took up a plan to build an international standard hotel-motel zone on about 112 acres of government land along the Cox's Bazar sea beach. Before leaving power, the then government had prepared a design of 107 plots of one acre each.
The BNP-Jamaat alliance government that assumed office in 2001 then distributed plots among its ministers, lawmakers, their relatives and party leaders and workers. The proposed hotel-motel zone has since been known as BNP Palli.
After returning to power, the present Awami League-led government formed a four-member parliamentary sub-committee headed by Moinuddin Khan Badal to investigate any irregularities over lease.
After visiting Cox's Bazar several times, the sub-committee completed its investigation in June last year and submitted its report to the highest level of the government about the irregularities.
Those whose allotments were scrapped include Faisal Morshed Khan, son of former foreign minister M Morshed Khan, former lawmaker from Magura Kazi Salimul Huq Kamal, former deputy minister for land Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, former Chhatra Dal president Habibun Nabi Sohel, former MP from Cox's Bazar-2 Alamgir M Mahfuz Ullah Farid, Shahin Chowdhury, wife of Cox's Bazar district BNP president and former lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury, and Mahbub Anam, brother-in-law of former lawmaker from Cox's Bazar-3 M Shahiduzzaman.