The High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to take action against the officials and contractors involved in providing thousands of illegal gas connections in different areas of the country.
The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah passed the order.
Advocate Manzill Murshid stood for the writ petitioner while lawyers Kazi Akhter Hamid and Nasir Ahmed stood for the defendant.
The court asked the secretary of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources ministry to form a six-member committee comprising senior officials and ordered the committee to submit a report within six months after preparing a list of officials and contractors involved in the allegations of illegal gas connections in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj and Chattogram.
The court also ordered the managing director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company to cancel the licences of the contractors against whom allegations of illegal gas connections will be mentioned in the report.
The Power, Energy and Mineral Resources ministry secretary has also been asked to form a three-member expert committee. The committee will determine the amount of gas used by illegal gas users since 2012 and directed the finance secretary to recover the money from the consumers as per the provisions of the Public Demand Recovery Act, 1913 within six months.
The court also directed the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the illegal gas connections in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj and Chattogram and take legal action against the accused.
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