Dhaka, Aug 21 (bdnews24.com)—The High Court has ordered the lessee, Imam Ghazali Institute, to clear out of the ancestral home in Pabna of Bengali movie legend Suchitra Sen in two months.
The bench of justices Hassan Foyez Siddiqui and Md Jahangir Hossain on Sunday also asked the government to implement the plan to set up a centre to preserve her memories.
The orders came on a petition pressed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights organisation.
HRPB lawyer Manzill Murshid told bdnews24.com that the court delivered the verdict on Thursday and Sunday following hearings.
Lawyers Abdur Razzaque and Imran A Siddique argued the case for the institute.
Imran later told bdnews24.com that since they had two months to vacate the house, they may consider appealing the judgment in the higher court.
Another High Court bench on July 26 had ordered the government to free the house from the possession of 'land grabbers' within seven days. It had directed the government to take legal actions against the grabbers and submit a report before it in 10 days.
But following a petition by the institute on Aug 4 with the Appellate Division, an injunction was imposed on the High Court rule the same day and it shifted the two petitions to a third bench for verdict.
Suchitra used to live in the house before the partition of India in 1947. She had passed most of her childhood there and studied at Pabna Government Girls' High School, the HRPB said in the petition.
The house was listed as a vested property after Suchitra's family moved to India and the then district-level government officials had lived there for sometime.
The Jamaat-e-Islami-run institute in 1987 took the house on lease. Later, upon an appeal, the land was allotted to the institute until any final decision on vested property was made.
On June 22, 2009, additional deputy commissioner (revenue) served a notice to the lessee to leave the premises. It was also stayed by a High Court order on July 7 the same year.
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