The High Court yesterday issued a contempt of court rule against ten Hazaribagh tannery owners for failing to relocate their units to Savar as per the court order. An HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Zafar Ahmed issued the rule in reply to an appeal submitted by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). The bench asked those 10 tannery owners as to why the contempt of court rule proceedings should not be started against them. The HC also asked them to give reply to it within two weeks. In 2001, an HC bench ordered the state authorities to shift the tanneries in Hazaribagh to outside of the capital after the HRPB filed a writ petition. The HRPB in its writ petition said the tanneries were posing health hazard induced by factories to the city dwellers. It also said the writ was aimed at saving Buriganga river from pollution. In 2009, the government selected a place in Harindhora area of Savar for the shifting and ordered the owners to shift their tanneries there through announcing a deadline that ended in this June. Earlier, the deadline, however, was extended for several times in reply to repeated appeals by the owners. Later, the government submitted aforesaid tannery owners’ names to the court as they adopted to dilly-dally method in following the state order and at last they sought a two-year extension for the shifting. The contempt of court was issued against Arefin Shamsul Al Amin, managing director of Rana Labour of Industries limited; Sayedul Haque Master, proprietor of Jules Enterprise; Mahbubur Rahman Panna, proprietor of Pubali Tanneries; Giasuddin Ahmed Pathan, managing director of Rumi Leather Industries Limited; Abdus Salam, proprietor of Salam Tannery; Rezaul Karim Ansary, proprietor of Karim Lather Limited; Abdul Wadud Mia, proprietor of Mahim Tannery; Abdul Wahab, proprietor of Nabipun Tannery; Mafiz Mia, proprietor of Asia Tannery and Akbar Hossain, managing director of paramount Tannery.
