HC summons industries secretary over realising fines from tanners

The High Court (HC) yesterday summoned the industries secretary to appear before it on February 7 for not complying with its order that directed tannery owners to pay compensation for damaging environment.

The HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das passed the order following a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
Petitioner’s counsel Manzill Murshid told The Independent that the apex court on July 18 last year ordered 154 Hazaribagh tannery owners who have not yet shifted their tanneries to Savar to pay a daily fine of Tk 10,000 for damaging the environment till they move out. 
The Supreme Court (SC) commuted the daily fine imposed on tannery owners to Tk. 10,000 from the previous fine amount of Tk 50,000 fixed by the High Court (HC), following an appeal filed by the tanners’ association. 
This amount has to be paid by every tannery for each day of its failure to relocate to the specified area. But, the tannery owners did not pay the imposed fine properly. Hence, the HRPB filed a petition with the HC seeking its directive over the matter.
In a verdict in 2001, the HC had directed the govt to take steps to relocate the tanneries from Hazaribagh within two years to save the Buriganga. It later extended the deadline several times. The court in 2009, again ordered the relocation of the tanneries by February 24, 2010. Later, the timeframe was extended up to April 30, 2011. But as the latest order too was not complied with, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a contempt of court case on April 15, 2014.
On April 13, 2016, the court sought a list of tanners who are still doing businesses in Hazaribagh, from the Industries Secretary. Following the order, the secretary submitted a list of 155 tanners, of which only one has relocated from the area till July, 2016.
On September 2, 2016 industries ministry secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan had said that the 154 tannery owners paid up Tk 55.9 lakh through the Sonali Bank industrial building corporate branch in Dhaka between August 11 and 16. 
HRPB filed the petition with the HC against the industries secretary for not complying with the HC order over the compensation.

HC summons industries secretary over realising fines from tanners

The High Court (HC) yesterday summoned the industries secretary to appear before it on February 7 for not complying with its order that directed tannery owners to pay compensation for damaging environment. The HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das passed the order following a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). Petitioners counsel Manzill Murshid told The Independent that the apex court on July 18 last year ordered 154 Hazaribagh tannery owners who have not yet shifted their tanneries to Savar to pay a daily fine of Tk 10,000 for damaging the environment till they move out. The Supreme Court (SC) commuted the daily fine imposed on tannery owners to Tk. 10,000 from theprevious fine amount of Tk 50,000fixed by the High Court (HC), following an appeal filed by the tannersassociation. This amount has to be paid by every tannery for each day of its failure to relocate to the specified area. But, the tannery owners did not pay the imposed fine properly. Hence, the HRPB filed a petition with the HC seeking its directive over the matter. In a verdict in 2001, the HC had directed the govt to take steps to relocate the tanneries from Hazaribagh within two years to save the Buriganga. It later extended the deadline several times. The court in 2009, again ordered the relocation of the tanneries by February 24, 2010. Later, the timeframe was extended up to April 30, 2011. But as the latest order too was not complied with, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a contempt of court case on April 15, 2014. On April 13, 2016, the court sought a list of tanners who are still doing businesses in Hazaribagh, from the Industries Secretary. Following the order, the secretary submitted a list of 155 tanners, of which only one has relocated from the area till July, 2016. On September 2, 2016 industries ministry secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan had said that the 154 tannery owners paid up Tk 55.9 lakh through the Sonali Bank industrial building corporate branch in Dhaka between August 11 and 16. HRPB filed the petition with the HC against the industries secretary for not complying with the HC order over the compensation.