The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is likely to hear on January 31 an appeal filed by the state against a High Court order that had halted the eviction drive at Kallyanpur slum for three months.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foyez Siddique Sunday did not give any order on the petition and sent it to the regular bench of the Supreme Court for hearing. Hence, the stay order would be prevailed until further order.
The High Court bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty gave the stay order on January 21 when the officials of the Housing and Building Research Institute led by an executive magistrate were at the spot to evict the slum residents. One block of the slum was completely demolished and two others saw partial damage during the drive that continued until the evening despite protests.
The court passed the order following a writ petition filed by rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). Sara Hossain, a lawyer for the ASK, said that the High Court had issued a restriction on the eviction of Kallyanpur slum 10 years ago. But the government carried out the drive ignoring the court order.
In 2003, when the Housing and Public Works Ministry took an initiative to evict the slum from Kallyanpur, ASK and two slum residents filed a writ petition with the High Court. On December 28 that year, a vacation bench of the court stayed the eviction drive and issued a ruling.
In 2004, a regular bench of the court too passed the same order. In 2006, the ministry again issued a letter to evict the slum and the ASK again moved the court, which passed a stay order on the drive.
Finally, the High Court on January 17, 2007 extended the stay order’s time until the disposal of its previous ruling.
