News – Bangladesh
The High Court in Bangladesh has issued contempt of court rulings against former and present government officials, including the industries secretary and director general of the Department of Environment (DoE), for failing to comply with its order for the relocation of Hazaribagh tanneries.
The court gave two weeks for the officials, among them Industries Secretary Mainuddin Abdullah and DoE Director General Raisul Alom Mondol, to provide reasons why contempt of court proceedings should not be brought against them for not implementing its order issued in 2009, directing them to relocate the tanneries of Hazaribagh to Savar by February 2010.
The High Court’s move came in the wake of the filing of a contempt of court petition by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh against the present and former government officials for not executing the order. The petition was motivated by the on-going pollution of the environment around Dhaka by the existing tannery operations and claimed that chemical waste is being dumped into the Buriganga River.
