The Honorable High Court of Bangladesh has ordered to inspect whether the conditions of the environmental clearance follow not or adequately
The Appellate Division of the Honorable Bangladesh High Court has directed the Directorate of Environment to monitor whether the two housing projects named Royal City of Royal Homes Limited and Dakshin Surma City Limited in Dakshin Surma Upazila, Sylhet, Bangladesh, follow the conditions of environmental clearance properly.
The Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Faiz Siddiqui, passed the order after settling the appeal filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) against the High Court verdict.
According to BELA, the High Court ruled on September 10, 2014, on the writ filed by BELA, alleging that four Beels have filled up in the Dakshin Surma Upazila and two projects have been constructed without environmental clearance.
In the judgment, the court directed to provide all the information about the two housing companies and fulfill the conditions required by the Department of Environment to get the environmental clearance.
The Department of Environment has also been directed to take legal action to ensure the two companies get proper approval. BELA appealed this part of the ruling in 2017. After the hearing, the appeal has disposed of, and the order was passed in December 2022.
Lawyer Minhajul Haque Chowdhury heard on behalf of BELA in court. Advocate Mahbub Morshed appeared on behalf of Royal Homes Limited.
Later, BELA’s lawyer Minhajul Haque Chowdhury said that the conditions of the environmental clearance state that no wetlands can fill through the project activities.
Mahbub Morshed, the lawyer of Royal Homes Limited, claimed that following the High Court’s verdict, the Department of Environment granted environmental clearance to Royal City on October 17, 2019, valid until October 16, 2023.
Revising parts of the High Court judgment, the Appellate Division directed strict adherence to environmental clearance conditions. There is no legal bar in carrying out the housing project activities following the environmental clearance conditions.
