DNCC mayor, DMP chief among 7 sued for contempt of court
A contempt of court petition was filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday against Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam and six others on charge of conducting an eviction drive in Mirpur section 11, block-C ignoring its chamber judge's order of status quo on the eviction.
Other six respondents are: chief estate officer of DNCC Mozammel Haque; its chief engineer Brigadier General Aminul Islam; commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Shafiqul Islam; its deputy commissioner (Mirpur zone) Mahtab Uddin; councillor of DNCC ward-5 of DNCC Abdur Rauf; and officer-in-charge of Mirpur Police Station Kazi Wazed Ali.
Masud Alam, Md Jiban and Md Nader Hossain, submitted the petition to the apex court saying the respondents evicted them (petitioners) from their designated (Bihari) camp on January 21 and 22 by willful disobedience of court's order, despite the petitioners showing the order.
The respondents have not honoured the court's order which is contempt of court, and so, they may be punished as per law, petitioner's lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon told The Daily Star citing the petition.
After a brief hearing on the petition, chamber judge of the Appellate Division Justice Md Nuruzzaman yesterday sent the petition to its full bench for hearing on the matter on April 11.
Lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon said the High Court Division of the SC in 2018 had delivered a verdict clearing the way for the authorities concerned to evict the Bihari camp.
In response, residents of the camps filed a petition with the Appellate Division seeking stay on the HC verdict. A chamber judge of the Appellate Division on October 6, 2018 issued an order of status quo on the eviction drive. In continuation of the case, the apex court chamber judge on October 29, 2020 issued another order of status quo on the eviction till May 2 this year.
In the meantime, DNCC conducted an eviction drive and demolished around 300 structures including 150 shops in violation of the chamber judge's order, the lawyer added.
Lawyer Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared for the petitioners while Deputy Attorney General Bishwajit Debnath represented the state during yesterday's hearing.
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