Three tannery owners were detained in police custody for more than five hours on Sunday for obstructing the implementation of a 2001 High Court verdict on the relocation of the hazardous tannery factories from the capital’s Hazaribagh, to its outskirts in Savar. They were released after they gave an undertaking to the High Court that they would shut down their businesses at Hazaribagh by Sunday night and report to the court by 10am in the morning on Monday about steps to implement the 2001 judgment. The police detained the tanners –M/S Pubali Tanneries’ proprietor MahbuburRahmanPanna, Rumi Leather Industries Ltd’s managing director Giasuddin Ahmed Pathan, and M/S Paramount Tannery managing director Akbar Hossain— at about 11am following a High Court order. The High Court also issued warrants for arrest of three other tanners –M/S Mahin Tannery’s proprietor Abdul Wadud Mia, M/S Nabipur Tannery’s proprietor Abdul Wahab and M/S Asia Tannery proprietor Mafiz Mia, as they failed to appear before the court. The court allowed another tanner, Rana Leather Industries Ltd proprietor Arefin Shamsul Alamin till May 3 to submit the explanation, as he is currently abroad. The court ordered the police to arrest the three tanners and produce them before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court as they did not submit compliance of the 2001 High Court judgment that had asked them to relocate the tanneries. The three tanners appeared before the bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq to comply with its summons. On August 11, 2015 the High Court had issued a contempt of court rule against the 10 tannery owners, including the three, for obstructing the implementation of its 2001 judgment. Warrants of arrest were issued against three other tanners; one is abroad at present, while the remaining three have already passed away. The court order came at a time when the seven-day deadline set by the government for the tanneries to relocate in line with the 2001 verdict ends tonight. Earlier, the contempt rule was issued after the industries secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan had informed the High Court that the 10 tannery owners didn’t take any preparation to shift their industries to Savar where the government set up a central treatment plant for Tk 600 crore. In 2001, the High Court directed the government to ensure relocation of the tanneries within two years to save the Buriganga river from pollution. On June 23 that year, the High Court asked the government to execute its orders by February 28, 2010. The court later extended the deadline by six months. On October 30, 2010, the High Court gave tannery owners six more months, which was later extended up to 2013. Fida M Kamal appeared for the three errant tanners and Manzill Murshid for Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh had filed a writ petition for relocation of the tanneries.
