Rangamati, Apr 28 (V7N) - The High Court has revoked a stay order that was in place for two writ petitions filed by 34 brick kiln owners in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The order was issued by the bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Asaf on Wednesday, April 23rd.

The case history reveals that in 2022, two writ petitions, numbered 9606/2022 and 13191/2022, were filed by 34 brick kiln owners, and the court subsequently issued a rule after hearing these petitions. An initial application for a stay order was then rejected by the court. However, nearly a year later, on November 15, 2023, Justice Naima Haider's court granted a stay order.

Previously, some brick kiln owners had filed another writ petition on the same issue, which was later dismissed by a rule issued by Justice Faram Mahbub's court.

When the brick kiln owners filed Civil Petitions for Leave to Appeal (numbers 762 and 758/2023) in the Appellate Division against Justice Faram Mahbub's verdict, the matter was brought before the High Court.

Subsequently, the Appellate Division delivered its verdict after hearing the appeal but did not issue any stay order. Despite the Appellate Division's ruling on the same underlying issue, the brick kiln owners had filed the two writ petitions in 2022 and successfully obtained the stay order from Justice Naima Haider's court on November 15, 2023.

Given that the Appellate Division had already ruled on the core matter, the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) applied to intervene in both writ petitions, and the court granted this application.

On Wednesday, April 23rd, an application was filed on behalf of HRPB to lift the stay order. Following the hearing in the court of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Assaf, the court granted HRPB's application and revoked the stay order issued on November 15, 2023.

Senior advocate Manzil Morshed, representing the petitioner HRPB, argued that cases were being repeatedly filed on a settled issue, and brick kiln owners had been illegally operating brick kilns in the hilly areas by leveraging the stay order obtained from the court.

It was highlighted that in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, a majority of brick kiln owners operate without the necessary licenses, causing significant environmental damage.

Senior Advocate Manzil Morshed was assisted by Advocate Md. Charwar Ahad Chowdhury, Advocate Sanjay Mondal, and Advocate Salim Reza in arguing for the HRPB. DAG Md. Shafiqur Rahman represented the state during the proceedings.

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