The High Court on Sunday summoned Chattogram additional divisional commissioner Yasmin Parvin Tibriji to appear before it on July 9 in connection with a contempt of court case.
The court asked Yasmin to personally explain why she would not be punished for allowing the construction of a shipbreaking yard in a reserved forest after felling thousands of trees in Sitakunda, defying a High Court order.
The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil issued the ruling after hearing a contempt petition, filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association.
The association informed the court that Yasmin Parvin had leased part of the reserved forest land to Kohinoor Steel Limited on March 24. On May 29, 2023, the deputy commissioner of Chattogram had cancelled a lease given to BBC Steel Limited, a sister concern of Kohinoor Steel Limited, for constructing a shipbreaking yard, following a High Court verdict delivered on January 2, 2020.
The association also stated that thousands of trees were felled to fence off the land, and a two-story building was being constructed on the seashore then.
Kohinoor Steel personnel are reportedly guarding the entire area, fenced with barbed wire, in north Salimpur of Sitakunda.