Ashiyan City faces contempt of court notice
The contempt notice was issued based on a report published by The Business Standard
The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) has served a contempt of court notice against Ashiyan City for continuing to promote land sales outside the project's approved boundaries, in violation of a court order.
Today (26 August), citing an Appellate Division directive, Bela strongly demanded immediate demarcation of the 33 acres of land approved for Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd's "Ashiyan City" housing project. It also called for effective measures to halt all promotional activities – such as advertisements in print or online, signboards and billboards – until the boundary is clearly marked.
The notice was sent by post to 11 individuals, including Housing and Public Works Secretary Md Nazrul Islam and Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd Managing Director Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan.
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Bela lawyer and Supreme Court advocate S Hasanul Banna told The Business Standard, "The contempt notice was issued based on a report published by The Business Standard on 22 August titled Ashiyan City promotes land beyond approved area, defying Rajuk orders. Bela has requested the recipients to report back on actions taken by 31 August 2025. Otherwise, further legal action will follow under contempt of court."
Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd began the "Ashiyan City" project by filling in low-lying farmland, floodplains, and wetlands in Uttarkhan, Dakshinkhan, Barua, and Bathua mouzas of Dhaka.
Bela had earlier challenged the approvals and clearances granted by Rajuk and the Department of Environment, filing a public interest litigation (No 17182/2012). Following hearings, a special High Court bench on 16 January 2014 declared all permits for Ashiyan City illegal, unlawful, and against public interest, ordering restoration of the filled-up areas.
Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd later filed a review petition (No. 19/2015), after which the court overturned the 2014 verdict. Bela appealed (Civil Appeal No. 455/2017), and on 22 November 2023, the Appellate Division ruled that the "Ashiyan City" project could only be implemented within 33 acres of land.
Despite this directive, the developer has continued advertising plots for sale outside the approved 33 acres through online and print media, as well as by installing signboards and billboards.
While these illegal activities persist, Rajuk's urban planning and implementation wing has confined itself to issuing letters, and other authorities have taken no effective action; amounting to contempt of court, Bela said.
The notice was addressed to the secretaries of the ministries of housing and public works, information and broadcasting, as well as environment, forest and climate Change; the senior secretaries of the ministries of home affairs and land; the Rajuk chairman; the director general of the department of environment; the Dhaka district commissioner; a Rajuk deputy town planner; the DoE director (Enforcement and Monitoring); and the managing director of Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd.
