The High Court has halted the lease process for establishing a sacrificial animal market in Aftabnagar, Dhaka, for a period of three months.
Alongside the suspension, the court issued a rule asking why the lease notice issued by Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) should not be declared illegal and scrapped altogether.
The order was passed on Sunday by a High Court bench comprising Justice Qazi Zinat Haque and Justice Ainun Nahar Siddiqa following a hearing on a writ petition.
Authorities including the Local Government Secretary and the Chief Property Officer of DSCC have been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks.
On April 21, DSCC issued a lease notice to set up temporary cattle markets in 11 locations across the capital ahead of Eid-ul-Adha.
In response, Supreme Court lawyer Yunus Ali Akand sent a legal notice on April 24, urging the city corporation not to establish a market in the Aftabnagar residential area.
After receiving no reply, Akand filed a writ petition with the High Court on April 30 and presented the case himself. Deputy Attorney General Badiuzzaman Tapadar represented the state.
Akand argued that the High Court had already stayed a similar attempt to set up a cattle market in Aftabnagar last year and issued a rule in that case as well.
When the matter was taken to the Appellate Division, the higher court rejected the appeal and upheld the High Court’s stay.
"In light of this precedent, the latest lease notice amounts to contempt of court," Akand said, emphasizing that reissuing the lease in the same location violates prior court orders.
