The State has failed to get a stay on the High Court order that halted the demolition of a slum at Dhaka’s Kalyanpur.
Published : 24 Jan 2016, 06:22 PM
After hearing a petition by the State, a Supreme Court Chamber Judge forwarded the matter to a regular appeals bench, which will hear it on Jan 31.
On Jan 21, the High Court stopped, for three months, the demolition of a slum on land belonging to the Public Works Department in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur when local residents and shanty people clashed with police during the drive.
The court froze the demolition after hearing an appeal by rights organisation Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK).
It also instructed officials not to evict or harass the slum-dwellers without going through proper legal procedures.
The Public Works Department had bulldozed a quarter of the slum while the ASK hearing was still underway at the court on Jan 21.
A clash erupted when the department started the dismantling drive on a 22-acre land at around 9:30am.
Officials had hit the residents with a two-hour deadline to empty the shanties, which enraged the locals.
ASK went to the court with a copy of the PWD’s letter that asked for police cooperation during the drive.
The struggle began back in 2003 when ASK, together with another NGO and two slum-dwellers, filed a writ with the High Court after PWD initiated its demolition drive.
The Court issued a stay order on Dec 28 of the same year.
ASK again knocked the doors of the court, when PWD issued another notice in 2006. Court ordered a stay on Jun 25.
High Court ordered an increment on the stay until the rule was resolved in 2007.
On Jan 10, 2016, PWD issued a letter requesting the police force to conduct the drive.
As the request of the petitioners, the High Court issued the stay order on Jan 21.