BGMEA office relocation order extended till Oct 5
The Supreme Court yesterday extended till October 5 its earlier order that gave six months' time to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to relocate its office from its building in Hatirjheel area in Dhaka.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division of the SC Justice Hassan Foez Siddique passed the order in response to a petition filed by BGMEA on August 23 seeking one year time for relocating its office from the multi-storey building.
The apex court chamber judge also fixed October 5 for hearing the time petition before its full bench, Barrister Imtiaz Moinul Islam, a lawyer for BGMEA, told The Daily Star.
Advocate Kamrul Haque Siddiqui argued for BGMEA.
In the petition, the BGMEA requested the apex court to postpone demolition of the controversial BGMEA office building for a year as they are not fully prepared to flatten such a big building.
BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman submitted the petition through its lawyer on August 23 saying that the office relocation is under process, as the BGMEA has created a fund for constructing its new office building at Sector 13 in Uttara.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has already allocated a land in Uttara for constructing the new office complex for BGMEA and hence the BGMEA needs one-year time for relocating its office from the 15-storey building in Hatirjheel area, he also said in the petition.
Earlier on March 12, the SC gave the BGMEA six months to demolish its 15-storey office complex, constructed illegally in Begunbari canal and Hatirjheel lake.
The six-month period will expire today [on September 12]. On March 5, the SC dismissed a petition filed by the BGMEA seeking a review of its judgement upholding a High Court order delivered in 2011 for demolishing the structure. It had also asked for the time petition.
The HC verdict had ordered the government to demolish the building within three months, saying it was built on land acquired through forgery and by filling it up with earth illegally. Later, the SC stayed the HC verdict following a petition by the BGMEA.
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