A judge of a two-member High Court bench yesterday felt embarrassed to hear a writ petition seeking its directive to remove structures that are under construction in Dhanmondi playground in the capital.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo said in its order that one of them felt embarrassed to hear to the petition and the reason was cited to be personal. They said the petition was sent to Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain to arrange another bench for hearing it.
Supreme Court lawyer Fida M Kamal appeared for the petitioners while Additional Attorney General Murad Reza represented the government.
Sara Hossain, another counsel for the petitioners, told the Dhaka Tribune that the judge who felt embarrassed to hear the petition refused to cite any specific reason except saying that it was a personal one.
The petition concerns the ongoing construction work apparently by the LGED in the name of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Ltd, she said.
How does a public body proceed with a project in the name of a private company and how does it do so without prior permission from Rajuk under the Building Construction Act, Sara questioned.
Earlier on April 28, another High Court bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani dropped the plea from its cause list. The order came following a contention of Fida M Kamal.
When the lawyer said the bench should not have head the plea if it had already decided not to issue any rule in this regard, Justice Gani expressed unwillingness to hear the petition and the bench dropped it from the cause list.
The petition, filed on April 22 by six people including architects Mobassher Hossain and Iqbal Habib, also sought the High Court’s directive to ensure unhindered access of everyone to the playground. In the wake of protests and criticisms, the playground was reopened to public on April 24.