No legal obstacle to demolition of Moudud’s former house, says Mahbubey Alam

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sees no legal obstacles to the demolition of BNP leader Moudud Ahmed’s former home in Gulshan.

The government’s chief law officer made the statement at a media briefing at his home following RAJUK’s drive to demolish the one-storey building on Gulshan Avenue on Sunday.

“The Appellate Division’s decision is clear – the paperwork for the property was gained through trickery. [Moudud] has filed other cases, but these were after his eviction. There are no legal obstacles to the demolition of the property because of these cases.”

The legal battle over the house on Plot-159 began after the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case in 2013 against Moudud and his brother Manzur Ahmed, accusing them of illegally occupying the property.

It said the BNP leader produced a 'fake' letter of attorney for the property and has been living in the house as a tenant.

The owners left Bangladesh in 1971 after the Liberation War started and the property was listed as abandoned after the owner couple did not return. Moudud moved into the house the same year.

In 2010, the High Court granted a plea by Moudud’s brother who sought to transfer the house’s ownership under his name. The order was separately challenged by RAJUK and the state in 2014.

The Appellate Division then overturned the High Court’s order in 2016.

On Jun 4 this year, the top court scrapped Moudud’s petition for a review of the decision, clearing the way for his eviction.

On Jun 7, RAJUK evicted him from the house sprawling on 24,480 square feet of land which is estimated to be valued at Tk 3 billion.

Moudud spoke to the media on Sunday and claimed the demolition of the house was illegal.

“There is no court order and no notice has been provided. What they are doing is just using brute force. Nowadays it seems brute force is stronger than the law,” he said.

“A writ petition has been filed with the High Court. The hearing has been set for Jul 2. Another title suit has been filed with the lower court and the hearing is still pending. I believe that these demolitions, with the cases still pending, are an affront to the court.”

Attorney General Alam was not receptive to Moudud’s claims.

“Many foreigners own property in Bangladesh,” he said. “Has there ever been a press conference over the property of foreigners? The whole point of the press conference is to try and retake the property.”

According to the Supreme Court’s decision, the property now belongs to the government and there are no questions on the matter, the attorney general said.

At a separate media briefing, the BNP has slammed the government over the demolition of the house.

The government has taken the move to divert people’s attention from its failures, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.

“I, on behalf of BNP, strongly condemn this illegal move. Once again they (government) have shown their complete disregard for the law,” he said echoing Moudud.