The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) has canceled the lease of six acres of land along the Karnaphuli River previously granted to the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC). This decision followed a high-profile contempt of court rule issued against the port’s top management.
The cancellation was formalized in a letter sent to the CCC Chief Executive Officer on Sunday night (February 8), signed by Port Secretary Syed Refayet Hamim.
Earlier on Sunday, a High Court bench comprising Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mohammad Asif Hasan issued a contempt of court rule against CPA Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman and four other senior officials.
The court questioned why they should not be punished for disobeying earlier directives to protect the Karnaphuli River. The other officials named are Md. Habibur Rahman, Member (Administration), Md. Shahidul Alam, Member (Finance), Commodore Kausar Rashid, Member (Engineering) and Mohammad Raihan Uddin, Assistant Estate Manager.
Notably, three of these members were transferred from the Chattogram Port shortly before the rule was issued.
The case was initiated by the rights organization Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). According to Senior Advocate Manzil Morshed, the CPA had moved to lease land in the Firingi Bazar Mouza (BS Dag No. 601), which is officially recognized as river land in government surveys.
The High Court had previously delivered a landmark verdict ordering the protection of the Karnaphuli River, the eviction of illegal structures, and the preservation of its boundaries under the Reservoir Conservation Act. HRPB argued that leasing this land was a blatant violation of that verdict.
In addition to the contempt rule, the court issued a status quo order on the disputed land, effectively halting all development or leasing activities in the Firingi Bazar area until the matter is legally resolved.
