HC summons 8 officials for inaction against illegal brick kilns

The High Court (HC) has summoned three divisional commissioners, three deputy commissioners and two upazilla nirbahi officers (UNOs) for not taking effective steps to stop operations of illegal brick kilns.

A High Court division bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury passed the order on Wednesday, asking divisional commissioners of Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna, deputy commissioners of Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram and UNOs of Savar and Dhamrai to appear before it on February 12 and give explanations.

The court came up with the order after holding hearing on a petition filed in this regard. Senior jurist Manjil Murshid moved the plea before the court, while Deputy Attorney General Tanim Khan stood for the state.

A writ petition was filed by rights body Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) in 2022, pleading for court's direction to stop operations of illegal brick kilns. The court on November 13 issued a rule and ordered to stop the operation of illegal brick kilns. But as the concerned officials failed to take effective steps in this regard, a supplementary petition was filed.

The High Court on November 28, 2024, came up with that earlier order again and asked the divisional commissioners to take steps within seven days to ensure no illegal brick kilns are running in eight divisions of the country. The court also had ordered to submit an execution report within December 15.

Following the order, the divisional commissioners filed their reports. But after scrutinizing those reports, it was found that the reports have names of such brick kilns, which have been destroyed or put out of operation way earlier. The brick kilns, which have been asked to stop their operation, are running without any hindrance.

The HRPB after that filed another supplementary petition and after holding hearing on the matter, the High Court came up with today's order.