Tk720cr land compensation trapped in Chattogram litigation maze

Infograph: TBS

Nearly Tk720 crore in compensation for 138.844 acres of land acquired for three major development projects in Chattogram has remained stuck in government coffers for years as writ petitions and civil suits prevent the money from reaching landowners.

The Chattogram district administration's Land Acquisition (LA) branch has been unable to disburse the compensation to landowners because of litigation over properties in Patenga and Halishahar.

According to the LA branch, the government pays affected private landowners the market value of their land plus an additional 200% as compensation. The substantial payouts have allegedly attracted a network of brokers and litigants seeking to profit from the process.

Landowners and officials allege that members of the network file objections or lodge cases over the ownership of acquisitioned land. Later, they approach landowners and offer to remove the objections or settle the cases in exchange for a share of the compensation.

The alleged demands range from 25% to 40%, and in some cases up to 50%, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Tk719.58 crore in compensation relates to land acquired for three projects: the Chittagong City Outer Ring Road, expansion of port facilities, and BNS Ulka.

Md Anisur Rahman Khan, land acquisition officer and executive magistrate at the Chattogram district administration, told The Business Standard that compensation for some of the affected land was paid until 2014, before a High Court stay order halted payments.

"In some cases, cheques were prepared, but the money could not be disbursed. Although the relevant writ petitions were later dismissed, the original civil cases are still pending, so compensation payments have not fully resumed," he said.

According to the LA branch, Tk364.83 crore remains stuck for the Port Facilities Expansion Project, for which 66.853 acres were acquired in Halishahar. Another Tk148.65 crore for 14.219 acres acquired for the BNS Ulka Expansion Project remains undistributed.

For Feeder Road-1 of the Chittagong City Outer Ring Road project, Tk68.27 crore remains unpaid from total compensation of Tk134.47 crore for 9.81 acres of land. Two other LA cases under the project have left Tk69.92 crore and Tk67.93 crore stuck.

Alleged litigation network

Landowners in South Patenga and Halishahar allege that an organised group uses objections and litigation to block compensation and later demands commissions to resolve the disputes.

They allege that the group identifies landowners after acquisition notices are issued, raises ownership or documentation objections and files writ or civil cases when owners refuse to pay.

One such landowner, Monir Ahmad, told TBS that around 80 decimals of his land in Patenga had been acquired but he had been unable to collect the compensation for 12 years because of cases filed by others.

He said his RS, BS and other necessary documents were in order, while many of those whose cases had blocked the compensation had neither possession of the land nor the necessary documents.

"After filing cases and blocking the compensation, they are now seeking to reach settlements with us. They are demanding 40-50% of the compensation to have the money released," he said.

According to LA branch records, seven writ petitions have been filed in the High Court in connection with the disputed acquisitions. All have been disposed of, but new civil suits were filed after earlier writ petitions and injunctions were dismissed or discharged around 2014-15.

Four major civil cases now remain significant obstacles to compensation payments.

A 2014 case over LA Cases No 7 and 8 named the government, district administration, land acquisition officer and numerous landowners as defendants. Court records show that the number of defendants eventually reached 1,561.

Another case filed by Iqbal Mia in 1981 over two Halishahar LA cases named 176 defendants and remains pending. Shahjahan Siraj, a relative of Iqbal Mia, is now pursuing the case.

TBS could not obtain his comment despite repeated calls.

In 1994, M Ahsan Ullah filed another case over two LA cases, naming 329 people as defendants. That case is also pending.

'We are fighting for inheritance'

Md Rakibul Hasan, son of M Ahsan Ullah, denied the allegations, saying the cases were not filed to harass landowners or unlawfully block compensation.

He said the acquired property originally belonged to his grandfather and that some heirs had been deprived of their rightful shares. "We are continuing the legal battle up to the Supreme Court to secure the rightful shares of the heirs," he said.

Rakibul said civil revisions and appeals over ownership and compensation remain pending and that he is ready to provide relevant documents to journalists or authorities.

Anisur said some landowners had settled disputes with litigants and obtained court orders removing their plots from the cases. Once such orders are submitted to the LA branch, compensation can be released.

Until then, hundreds of crores remain in the government treasury while landowners wait for compensation for property acquired for public projects.