HC rules against Chittagong Port Authority's power for river filling

The High Court (HC) on Sunday issued a rule, asking authorities concerned to explain why it shall not scrap a sub-section of the Chittagong Port Authority Act 2022 that permitted the port authority to recover, fill and excavate, river bank, river bed, surround and raise boundary.

A High Court Division bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury passed the order, asking six officials concerned including cabinet and law secretaries to reply within two weeks.

The court came up with the order after holding a hearing on a public interest litigation filed by the rights body Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). Senior jurist Advocate Manzil Murshid moved the plea before the court.

Chittagong Port Authority Act 2022 was ratified in 2022 and the gazette was issued in this regard on April 13, 2022. According to section 10 (2) (cha), the port authority is allowed to reclaim, excavate, enclose and raise faces on river banks, beds or bottoms from inundation state.