SC confirms HC verdict asking Concord to hand over 18-storey Azimpur building to orphanage

The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court verdict ordering real estate firm Concord to hand over the 18-storey building they had built on a piece of land owned by the Sir Salimullah Muslim Orphanage at Azimpur in the capital.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed its verdict on Monday rejecting the Concord appeal against the HC rule.

"The 18-storey building will now have to be confiscated and handed over to the orphanage by the social welfare secretary at the earliest possible time," Advocate Manzill Murshid, lawyer of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh or HRPB, told bdnews24.com.                        

Barrister Rokan Uddin Mahmud, AM Amin Uddin, Mahbub Ali and MA Hannan made the case for Concord in court.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state while Advocate AY Moshiuzzaman and Anik R Haque argued for the writ petitioner.

According to the case dossier, the Salimullah orphanage was established in 1909. Since then the orphanage in Azimpur has been run on the land taken on lease from the government.

On July 22, 2003, acting chairperson of the orphanage Begum Shamsunnahar Ahsan Ullah and general secretary GA Khan handed over two bigha or 0.6612 acres of land to Concord.

After the report of the transfer was made public by the media, it was challenged by four students of the orphanage in 2013.

On Feb 11, 2013, the High Court gave an injunction on the construction work and asked the parties to the maintain status quo. The court also asked the parties to explain why the handover of orphanage land should not be declared illegal.

After hearing the plea, the court on Sept 17 last year revoked the deed which was registered to hand over the land to Concord.

The realtor was asked to hand over the land and the building to the orphanage within 30 days of receiving the certified copy of the order.

Concord later moved the Supreme Court against the ruling.