HC scraps previous verdict declaring Ashiyan City housing project illegal

The High Court has scrapped its previous verdict declaring the Ashiyan City housing project as illegal.

The larger bench of justices Syed AB Mahmudul Huq, Naima Haider and Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque gave the order on Tuesday after accepting the land developer’s plea to review its decision.

The project by Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd is located opposite to Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport and beside the Hajj Camp.

In 2012, several rights and environmentalists groups like Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), Association for Land Reform and Development, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Institute of Architects, Bangladesh (IAB), Nijera Kori and 'Paribesh Bachao Andolan' (save the environment movement) moved the High Court seeking a ban on projects undertaken by this company.

The petitioners said that the company had violated the Land Holding (Limitation) Order 1972, which does not allow anyone in Bangladesh to hold more than 33 acres of land. The limit is 20 acres in case of agricultural land.

But the clearance had been given for their residential project on 43.11 acres of land.

It also said that low-lying lands and drainage basins (flood-flow zones) falls within the project, which also have some canals.

In January last year, the High Court issued a rule after hearing the petition and on Jan 16 this year, it declared the housing project as illegal.

The realtor company filed a petition to review the verdict, which the court accepted on Tuesday and scrapped its previous verdict.

In 2011, Ashiyan Land Developments was fined Tk 5 million by the Department of Environment. The environment ministry, however, reduced the penalty to Tk 500,000 the next year.