The High Court on Sunday stayed for three months the Dhaka South City Corporation鈥檚 decision to set up a temporary cattle market in the Eastern Housing residential area at Aftabnagar of Badda in the capital Dhaka ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, a Muslim religious festival to be celebrated early June.
The bench of Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque and Justice Aynun Nahar Siddiqua passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Md Eunus Ali Akond.
The court also issued a rule asking the government and the DSCC to explain why the April 21 notification permitting the establishment of the cattle market at Aftabnagar should not be declared illegal.
Eunus argued that the DSCC move violated citizens鈥� fundamental rights and was contrary to environmental protections guaranteed under Article 18A of the Constitution, which obligates the state to protect the environment, wetlands, biodiversity, and natural resources for the present and future generations.
He observed that the proposed cattle market location 鈥� Aftabnagar 鈥� was a densely populated residential area housing institutions such as East West University, hospitals, schools, colleges, madrasas, markets and thousands of residents.
Setting up a cattle market in such an area, he contended, would disrupt daily life and pose environmental and public health risks.
Citing the past year鈥檚 precedent, Eunus noted that the High Court had similarly stayed a DSCC鈥檚 move to establish a cattle market in the same area, and the Appellate Division had upheld that order upon appeal.
He also argued that under the Haat-Bazar Ain, 2023, and its associated policies, there was no legal provision allowing cattle markets to be set up in private residential projects like Aftabnagar.
Aftabnagar falls under Ward 37 of Badda, which is part of the Dhaka North City Corporation, yet the DSCC issued the lease notice, thereby exceeding its jurisdiction, he pointed out.
Eunus further noted that while the government had never officially designated Aftabnagar as a cattle market site, the DSCC had been leasing it annually without legal authority.
The area lacks government-built infrastructure such as roads and sewerage systems, with development primarily financed by private plot owners.
