Writ petition seeks permanent ban on export of hilsa

A writ petition was filed with the High Court on Wednesday seeking its directive to ban the export of hilsa permanently from the country.

Lawyer Md Mahmudul Hasan filed the writ petition with the wing concerned of the High Court on Tuesday, attaching the reports published in media about the export of hilsa.

Commerce, Fisheries and Livestock, Civil Aviation and Tourism secretaries , the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports and the chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation were made respondents in the writ.

In addition, the writ asked why the inaction of the defendants to refrain from exporting hilsa to India will not be illegal. Apart from this, instructions were given to the Secretary of Fisheries and Livestock to arrange the sale of hilsa in the country at affordable prices.

Earlier on September 11, lawyer Mahmudul Hasan sent a legal notice to the defendants to permanently stop the export of hilsa to India.

He requested to take measures to permanently stop the export of hilsa to India within seven days upon receiving the notice. But three days after giving this notice, on September 14, the Ministry of Commerce approved the export of another 500 tons of hilsa to India in the second phase.

On the occasion of Durga Puja, on September 4, it approved the export of 2, 450 tons of hilsa in the first phase.

The Ministry of Commerce has so far approved the export of a total of 2,950 tons of hilsa in two phases for export to India, according to the writ perition.

Petitioner Mahmudul Hasan filed the writ petition due to the lack of response from the defendants regarding the export of hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh.

The writ is set to be heard by the competent bench next week.

The petition highlights the increasing prices of hilsa, which are making it unaffordable for poor and middle-class families in Bangladesh.

Hasan criticizes the Ministry of Commerce for allowing the export of hilsa to India without considering the needs of the local population, leading to a spike in domestic prices. Alarmingly, hilsa is reportedly being exported at lower prices than what consumers pay in the domestic market, he said.

Furthermore, the petition mentioned that according to Bangladesh‍‍`s export policy for 2021-24, hilsa should not be a freely exportable product. Despite this, the Ministry of Commerce unjustly permitted the export, ignoring public interest.

Hilsa is usually exported to India on the occasion of Durga Puja. Hilsa exports to India were halted from 2012 to 2018, but resumed in 2019. Last year, Bangladesh exported 1,400 tons of hilsa fish to India.