Published : 03 Aug 2026, 06:42 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:29 AM
The High Court has issued a rule questioning why authorities' inaction in reclaiming 9.71 hectares of grabbed land belonging to Mohakhali's Infectious Diseases Hospital should not be declared illegal.
It also ordered the matter resolved within 30 days, along with submission of a boundary demarcation map and a compliance report.
A bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice Md Ziaul Haque passed the order along with the rule on Sunday, following a preliminary hearing on the writ petition.
The court asked eight respondents to explain the rule: the secretaries of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the Dhaka deputy commissioner, the civil surgeon, the chief engineer of the Public Works Department, the director of the Infectious Disease Hospital and the chief of Banani Police Station.
Md Shafiqul Islam, lawyer for the petitioner, told bdnews24.com that of the 12.95 hectares allotted in the hospital's name, authorities currently hold just 3.24 hectares.
The remaining 9.71 hectares are under illegal occupation, where housing, semi-permanent structures and slums have sprung up alongside unlawful activities, he added.
Explaining the background to the plea, Shafiqul said the petitioner, Paupers Legal Aid Foundation, sought information from the hospital after media reports on the encroachment.
According to the lawyer, the hospital confirmed that it controlled only 3.24 hectares, despite having to pay land tax on the entire plot.
He said written applications were subsequently filed with the health and public works ministries, urging them to reclaim the land from illegal occupants and hand it over to hospital authorities.
With both ministries “failing to act”, the petition was filed at the High Court challenging their inaction.
The petition argues that the respondents failed to fulfil their constitutional and legal responsibilities to protect public property and a public healthcare institution.
It also says the continued occupation of government land designated for healthcare violates constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to life, legal protection and the improvement of public health.
The petition also argues that government land allocated for public healthcare cannot legally remain under private occupation.
It seeks a declaration that the respondents' “inaction and failure were unlawful and beyond their legal authority”.
Additional demands include evicting illegal structures, restoring full possession to hospital authorities, taking legal action against occupiers, and imposing an interim injunction on new construction, ownership transfer or land reclassification until the rule is disposed of.
