Top court rules against Ashiyan City
All activities including selling plots, publishing advertisements stayed
The Supreme Court yesterday issued an injunction barring Ashiyan City from all activities including selling plots and publishing advertisements.
It also stayed a High Court order that scrapped an earlier verdict declaring the housing project in the capital's Uttara and adjacent areas illegal.
The SC order will remain effective until a leave-to-appeal petition is filed with it against the August 16 HC verdict.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order following two petitions by the government and eight rights organisations seeking a stay on the HC verdict.
Syeda Rezwana Hasan, a lawyer for the rights organisations, told The Daily Star that Ashiyan City authorities were not allowed to continue activities of their projects at Uttarkhan, Dakkhin Khan, Barua and Buthar mouzas in Dhaka following the SC order.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the government had filed the stay petition, considering that the living condition -- low land, open space and forest that were necessary in a city -- would be damaged if Ashiyan City's housing projects were allowed.