High Court drops contempt charges against three tannery owners

The High Court has dropped contempt charges against three tannery owners on being informed of measures taken to implement its order on relocation of the factories from Dhaka’s Hazaribagh to Savar.

The three are Mahbubur Rahman of Pubali Tanneries, Giasuddin Ahmed Pathan of Rumi Leather Industries and Md Akbar Hossain of Paramount Tanneries.

The bench of justices Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and AKM Shahidul Huq on Monday relieved them of contempt charges for not shifting their factories and not appearing in court despite being summoned.

In its 2001 verdict, the High Court had directed the government to ensure the relocation of tanneries within two years.

After repeated extension of the deadline following State pleas over the years, on Jun 23, 2009, the court again fixed Feb 24, 2010 as a fresh deadline.

When the factories did not move to Savar, the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) accused 10 tanneries of contempt of court.

On Apr 21, 2015, the court summoned three including Industries Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

Bhuiyan later appeared before court and told it that 10 tanneries had een refusing to move despite repeated orders.

The court recently summoned them, including the three excused of the contempt charges on Monday, to appear before it on Sunday for hindering the implementation of its 2001 judgment.

After the owners of Pubali Tanneries, Rumi Leather Industries and Paramount Tanneries appeared before it, the bench kept them in its custody for over five hours on Sunday for not submitting their explanations on the failure to relocate the factories.

The court later released the three after they tendered their unconditional apology.

The petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid said the court had exempted the three on condition that they will submit the report on the relocation of their factories.
 
The defendants’ lawyer Barrister Md Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury told bdnews24.com the process to shut down the factories at Hazaribagh and move them to Savar had started.
 
The court dropped the contempt charges after it was satisfied with the report, he added.
 
The court on had issued arrest warrants for three of the 10 tannery owners after they did not appear before it following the summons.
 
These three are Abdul Wadud Mia of Mahin Tannery, Abdul Wahab of Nabipur Tannery and Md Mafiz Mia of Asia Tannery.
 
The High Court had also ordered another defendant, Arefin Shamsul Al Amin of Rana Leather Industries, to appear before it on May 3 as he is currently abroad.
 
Three other tanners Abdus Salam of Salam Tannery, Rezaul Karim Ansari of Karim Leather Ltd, and Md Sayedul Haque Master of Jullet Enterprise have died, Murshid said.
 
The lawyer said instead of these three, the current proprietors of their tanneries will be included as defendants in the contempt ruling. The matter will be heard on May 3.