No bar to removing 5 companies\\\' structures from Shitalakkha

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld its earlier verdict ordering the government to remove all structures, except those set up by it in the public interest, from four rivers around the capital city of Dhaka. A 5-member Appellate Division bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain, rejected five petitions filed by five commercial companies, which set up establishments in Shitalakkha River, seeking review of the verdict. Following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), the High Court (HC) in June 2009 directed the government to demarcate the areas of the four rivers – Shitalakkha, Buriganga, Balu and Turag – and dismantle all illegal structures from those. As the deputy commissioner of Narayanganj served notices to the 5 companies on February 9, 2010, to remove their jetties from Shitalakkha, the 5 companies filed separate petitions with the HC against the notices. However, the HC dismissed the petitions on March 21 of the year. As the 5 companies moved the Supreme Court against the HC order, it also rejected their pleas on May 3, 2010. Later, they filed review petitions with the SC. Talking to reporters after the SC verdict, HRPB lawyer Manzill Murshid said with the order of the apex court, there is no legal bar to pulling down the structures of the 5 companies from Shitalakkha, according to UNB.