BGMEA undertaking: Top court sets April 2 for re-submission with modifications

Finding BGMEA’s undertaking to be “ambiguous,” the Appellate Division has asked the garment exporters’ organisation to modify and re-submit it on Monday.

A four-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the bench asked Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to sign an undertaking that it will not file further petitions seeking time to demolish its illegally constructed building.

BGMEA’s petition for one more year will be considered once it signs the undertaking, the judges had said.

Bangladesh's top apparel business body, BGMEA, submitted the undertaking on Wednesday.

Quoting from the undertaking, amicus curiae Advocate Manjil Murshed told the media: “The BGMEA board of directors will not seek more time. They will be held accountable if they do so.

“The court raised an objection as the same board may or may not exist after six months or a year.”

“They said they would evacuate the building in due time. But the court ordered them to demolish the building specifically within 90 days. The undertaking mentions nothing on that. Their lawyers proposed to submit another undertaking when the court raised these concerns,” said Advocate Murshed.

The undertaking due on April 2 must mention that the BGMEA will demolish the 19-storey building on its own in due time and will be held accountable if it is found doing otherwise, he added.

Built illegally on endangered wetlands in Dhaka about two decades ago, reports bdnews24, the BGMEA building was called ‘a cancer’ on the Hatirjheel Beautification Project by the High Court.

In 2011, the High Court found that the building had been constructed by violating the law 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.

A review petition on the decision was dismissed by the Appellate Division and the BGMEA was told to complete demolitions by September 12. An additional seven-month extension granted on October 8 last year ends on April 12.

The court told the BGMEA at the time extension hearing that more time would not be granted.

But the BGMEA filed another petition on March 5 seeking a full-year extension.

Lawyers Kamrul Haque Siddique and Imtiaz Moinul Islam represented the BGMEA at the hearing on Wednesday.