No more legal hurdles to demolishing BGMEA office building

Bangladesh’s apex court has turned down a petition by apparel businesses to appeal against a High Court verdict, which had earlier ordered the demolition of its office building in the capital Dhaka.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has failed in its last legal battle on Thursday, when an appeals bench led by the chief justice rejected its plea.

The building will have to be torn down, said BGMEA’s lawyer Rafique-Ul Huq. “The High Court said it will have to be and the Appellate Division confirmed it today.”

But the verdict, he believed, would upset the economy, which hugely relies on export earnings from the garment industry.

“The BGMEA board will decide whether or not to file a review petition, after we receive the full appeals verdict.”

In a 2011 verdict, the High Court found that the building had been constructed by violating laws meant to protect wetlands and ordered its demolition.

The court said the building was hindering the water flow of Begunbari canal and hampering the Hatirjheel project.

The full verdict was available two years later, when the BGMEA filed a leave-to-appeal petition against the ruling.

The top court heard the matter on Thursday and upheld the High Court ruling.

The Supreme Court heard the matter on Thursday and upheld the High Court ruling which had termed the building as ‘a cancer’ inside the picturesque Hatirjheel project.

“This destructive structure will infect the entire city if it is not immediately torn down.” 

Thursday’s order means there are no legal hurdles to demolishing the building, said Manzill Murshid, who was amicus curiae for the case in High Court.

The verdict also said it was illegal for the BGMEA to enter into contracts with buyers to whom it sold flats and portions of the building, because it never had the right to build on that area.

The buyers should have their money returned within a year after the claim.

“Since the buyers knew or should have known that BGMEA had no claim to the land, they are not entitled to receiving interests,” it said. "The BGMEA is not above the law just because it has financial muscles’'.  

“An important organisation like BGMEA should have been more respectful towards the law. But they belittled it instead.”