High Court suspends eviction of Dhaka’s Harijan City Colony

DSCC has been directed to rehabilitate the harijans within 30 days before commencing eviction operations

The High Court has issued a one-month stay order on the eviction proceedings of Miron Jalla Harijan City Colony in the capital Dhaka's Aga Sadek Lane.

Due to the court order, Dhaka South City Corporation, or DSCC, will not be able to evict the colony's residents for a month.

Per the directive, the harijans have to be rehabilitated before commencing eviction operations.

The bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Md Atabullah issued the stay order after hearing a writ petition on Thursday.

Advocates Ainun Nahar and Manoj Kumar Bhowmick appeared on behalf of the petitioner.

The colony stands on a property stretching 1.32 hectares. The DSCC is on the move to build a modern grocery store using 27 decimal of the land, which is currently home to hundreds of harijan families.

However, a part of the land already has a marketplace for the residents of the colony.

According to Advocate Ainun Nahar, three Supreme Court lawyers have challenged the eviction notice issued by the DSCC.

"The court has said that these harijans will clean the garbage from the streets during Eid. If you evict them now, where will they go?" said Advocate Ainun.