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The Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court has upheld the Bangladesh High Court’s verdict that declared valid the ongoing process related to the agreement with a foreign company for the operation of Chattogram Port’s Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT).
On Thursday (March 12), a bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury issued the order in this regard.
Earlier on Wednesday (March 11), the same bench had set this day for the order.
Court sources said that the leave to appeal application filed against the High Court’s verdict has been dismissed. As a result, the process of signing an agreement with a foreign company for the operation of the Newmooring Container Terminal remains valid.
With all legal obstacles removed, the Chattogram Port Authority now faces no further impediment to proceeding with the agreement process with Dubai-based company DP World.
Previously, Mirza Walid Hasan, president of the Youth Economy Forum, filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the process to assign a foreign company the responsibility of operating the NCT.
After an initial hearing of the writ petition, the Bangladesh High Court issued a rule on July 30 last year. The rule questioned why the process of contracting with foreigners, without providing opportunities to local operators and in violation of the Public-Private Partnership Act, should not be declared illegal.
Simultaneously, the court also sought to know why instructions for a fair and competitive tender, as per law, should not be issued before assigning the responsibility of operating the container terminal.
The relevant respondents, including the Shipping Secretary, the Chairman of the Chattogram Port Authority, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Private Partnership Authority, were given four weeks to respond to the rule.
News reports indicated that the process initiated during the previous Bangladesh Awami League government’s tenure to entrust a Dubai-based foreign company with terminal management through a Public-Private Partnership regained momentum later. This issue sparked criticism and discussion in various circles.