The High Court on Sunday ordered Shahriar Alam, senior vice president of Suvodanga union Awami League, to stand in the court till 6pm for killing 50 palm trees by applying pesticide on them in the Baigacha area of Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi.
The bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice AKM Rabiul Hassan passed the order after hearing his statement.
Earlier, Shahriar Alam was accused of applying pesticide to kill 50 palm trees planted on the side of a government road in Bagmara.
The High Court issued a ruling in that regard and directed him to appear in court at 10:30am on Sunday to explain his position.
Besides, the court issued a ruling asking why punitive action should not be taken against Shahriar and why he should not be directed to pay adequate compensation for applying pesticide to kill 50 palm trees.
The defendants in the case were asked to respond to the ruling in this regard within the next seven days.
Taking into consideration a news article published in a national daily, the High Court bench gave this suomotu ruling on February 1.
During the hearing, the court said: “The incident is very shocking. How cruel can people be!”
During the order, the court said: “The incident mentioned in the news has shaken our conscience. Taking into account the prime minister's commitment to green forestry and environmental balance, we are issuing the suomotu rule.”
The court ordered Bagmara upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) and agriculture officer to jointly conduct an on-site investigation and submit a report along with pictures of the mentioned palm trees to the court within the next seven days.
It also ordered Bagmara upazila agriculture officer to be physically present in court while submitting the report.