The High Court on Thursday formed a three-member committee led by former High Court judge to investigate alleged irregularities in the allocation of Purbachal plots to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, five of her family and others during the 15-year Awami League regime.
The committee headed by Justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury includes Supreme Court lawyer Jashim Uddin Sarkar and engineer Alamgir Hasan.
The bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi asked the housing and public works affairs secretary to submit the probe report within 120 days.
The bench passed the order during a hearing on a public interest writ petition filed by 10 lawyers.
The petition challenged the legality of the allotment of 10-katha plots to each of Sheikh Hasina and her family members, arguing that it violated the Dhaka Improvement Trust (Allotment of Lands) Rules, 1969.
The alleged irregularities first surfaced in a newspaper report published on September 5, one month after Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 resignation as prime minister and fleeing to India on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising.
The High Court also asked the authorities to explain why the allotments to Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana鈥檚 children鈥擱adwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby and Azmina Siddiq Rupanti鈥� should not be cancelled.
The court also wanted to know why those involved in the illegal plot allocations, including the beneficiaries, should not face legal consequences.
The petitioners鈥� lawyer, Muhammad Misbah Uddin, argued that, according to a Ministry of Public Works notification issued on August 5, 1986, Rajuk has the authority to allocate plots only to individuals who have made significant contributions to government service, public service, or other fields of national importance, as determined by the government.
The notification further specified that no plot could be allotted unless the applicant submits a formal request and the government recommends the allocation.
Additionally, it prohibited allotments to individuals who had already owned plots or houses within the jurisdiction of Dhaka and Narayanganj municipalities, or their suburbs.
The lawyer emphasised that since Sheikh Hasina and her family members already possessed separate houses and plots, the additional allotments in their names were illegal under the existing rules.
In a separate development, the High Court bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice AKM Rabiul Hassan directed the government to take action against individuals who were allotted industrial plots in the proposed 60-feet-wide road of the capital鈥檚 Begunbari-Hatirjheel development project in Tejgaon during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party rule, but failed to establish industries as required.
The court gave the plot holders two years to comply with the allotment conditions or face cancellation of their registrations.
The directive followed the disposal of a suo moto rule issued on May 9, 2012, in response to a 2010 newspaper report titled 鈥楻oad projects turned into industrial plots overnight鈥�.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh intervened in the suo moto case, which revealed that 24 individuals, including some media outlets, had received industrial plots during the BNP rule.
The court criticised the lack of clear guidelines for such allocations, noting that only a committee existed to oversee plot allotments. It stressed the importance of transparency and called for public notices to be published in newspapers to ensure open and fair applications for future plot allocations.
The court further directed the Ministry of Housing and Public Works to formulate a policy for future industrial plot allotments, underscoring that these properties belong to the public and must be allocated through a transparent process.
On May 9, 2012, the High Court had stayed the plot allotment process for the proposed 60-feet-wide road in the Begunbari-Hatirjheel project, issuing a suo moto order based on a newspaper report. The report was published by Bangla national daily Samakal on March 24, 2010.
