Provide Tk 99cr to Moon Cinema owner in compensation

The Supreme Court yesterday directed the Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust (Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust) to give Tk 99.21 crore to the owner of the then Moon Cinema Hall in Waizghat area of Old Dhaka by July 30.

The cinema hall issues involve a case regarding the constitution's fifth amendment which had legitimised the then governments of Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem and General Ziaur Rahman.

Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Ltd (BIMWL), a private company, the owner of the cinema hall, will get the money (Tk 99.21 crore) in three installments following the apex court's order, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, who is performing functions of the chief justice, passed the order after disposing of a contempt of court petition filed by Maqsudul Alam, managing director of BIMWL.

He filed the petition in January, 2013 saying that the officials concerned of the government and Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust have not taken any step to hand over the ownership of the then Moon Cinema Hall to the company although the apex court had directed for doing so.

Ownership of all properties of Moon Cinema Hall was handed over to Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust as an abandoned property during the martial law regime between August 15, 1975 and April 9, 1979 when a ban was imposed saying that the legality of the government's decision to declare any property abandoned cannot be challenged before any court.

The High Court in August 2005 lifted the ban through scrapping the fifth amendment of the constitution. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the HC order.

Delivering a verdict on the case against the fifth amendment, the apex court on May 11, 2011 directed the authorities concerned of government to return the properties of Moon Cinema Hall to BIMWL in three months.

On February 2, 2010 the apex court in another verdict had upheld the HC verdict that declared the fifth amendment illegal.

The HC had delivered the verdict on August 29, 2005 following a writ petition filed by Maqsudul Alam on behalf of BIMWL challenging the Martial Law Regulation (MLR) 7 of 1977, issued to legalise all illegal acts of the martial law governments including acquiring the land of the Moon Cinema Hall prior to that time.

As the order went unheeded, Maksudul filed a contempt of court petition with the SC in January 2013 against the authorities concerned of the government and Muktijodhha Kalyan Trust for not executing its verdict.

During hearing the petition, the SC in January last year directed Prof Zamilur Reza Chowdhury to assess the cost of properties of the cinema hall which has already been turned into a development structure.

Recently, Prof Zamilur Reza Chowdhury submitted a report to the SC assessing the cost of the cinema hall's properties including the structures at Tk 99.21 crore.

Dr Tawfiq Newaz appeared for Maqsudul Alam.