BGMEA asked to submit undertaking again, order Monday

The Supreme Court set Monday next to pass its order on a plea filed by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA) seeking time for demolishing the BGMEA Bhaban in the Hatirjheel Lake. 

Besides, the court ordered the apex body of the country’s garment sector to submit an undertaking that it will not file further plea seeking time to demolish its illegally constructed building. 

A four-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order on Wednesday adding that the BGMEA will have to place the undertaking afresh inserting a few lines.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the SC hinted to consider the plea filed by BGMEA seeking time for demolishing the BGMEA building on condition that the BGMEA will have to give an undertaking that it would not file any more time petition over demolishing its building.

On March 5 last yesr, the BGMEA authorities filed a one-year time petition with the apex court as its seven months’ time granted in September, 2017 by the SC for reducing the building to ruins expired in March.

 The BGMEA lost its last legal battle to keep its structure intact on the scenic waterbody as the Appellate Division rejected its plea seeking review of its judgment that upheld an earlier High Court verdict, ordering demolition of the structure.

In 2011, the High Court ordered demolition of the 16-storey building as it was constructed in defiance of relevant laws, calling it a ‘cancer’ in the lake.

The BGMEA later filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division against the High Court judgment, but the apex court on June 2, 2016, dismissed the plea as well as asked the RMG producers to demolish its headquarters at once and at its own cost.