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The High Court has issued a rule asking why the authorities’ failure to recover leased land in the protected Chakaria Sundarbans should not be declared unconstitutional, illegal and against the public interest.
The bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mohammad Asif Hasan passed the order on Sunday after hearing a writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
The court asked 13 respondents, including the secretaries of the Ministries of Land and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to explain within the stipulated time.
According to BELA, the case involves 21,245 acres of protected and reserved forest in Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria Upazila. The organisation argued that large portions of the forest were leased out illegally while the area still retained its status as a reserved forest and was de-reserved only years later.
The writ also sought the cancellation of all illegal leases and allocations, eviction of illegal occupiers, and directives to restore and conserve the coastal forest.
BELA contended that the respondents had failed in their statutory duty to protect forests, biodiversity and natural resources, calling their inaction arbitrary, unlawful and harmful to both the environment and the public interest.
