Home
+
Published : 20 Jul 2026, 03:33 PM
The High Court has issued a rule asking why the authorities' failure to recover leased land in the protected Chakaria Sundarbans forest in Cox's Bazar should not be declared “unconstitutional, illegal and against the public interest”.
On Sunday, a bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md Asif Hasan issued the rule after hearing a public interest writ plea filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
The court asked 13 respondents, including the secretaries of the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to respond.
Appearing for BELA, lawyer Md Ashraf Ali was assisted by Rumana Sharmin.
After the hearing, Rumana told bdnews24.com the case concerns both protected and reserved forest land in the Chakaria Sundarbans, covering around 8,598 hectares.
She said several leases had been granted "illegally" because the land was leased while it still held reserved forest status.
"The land was de-reserved years after the leases were granted. We challenged how leases could be issued before the reserved status was withdrawn. That is why the leases are unlawful, and the court has issued the rule.”
The lawyer said BELA had sought an interim order asking the respondents to submit a complete list of leaseholders and a restoration plan for the Chakaria forest, but the court did not grant that request.
The petition challenged the respondents' inaction and sought a rule asking why all "illegal" leases and land allocations in the protected and reserved forest should not be cancelled, illegal occupants evicted, and a conservation and restoration plan for the coastal forest implemented.
It argued that government decisions published in gazette notifications on May 21, 1985, and Nov 21, 1985, to lease or allocate were “contrary to the greater public interest and violated the Constitution as well as environmental and wildlife conservation laws”.
It also said the respondents have a “statutory duty” to protect nature, natural resources and the environment for present and future generations.
Their inaction on taking steps to protect coastal communities from the impact of climate change and to restore the forest and its biodiversity was "entirely arbitrary, beyond legal authority and unlawful”, it said.
