Tk30cr court project planned on land locked in 13-year dispute in Shahzadpur

A long-running land dispute involving the Shahzadpur Chowki Court has resurfaced after the Public Works Department (PWD) prepared a site plan for a Tk 30.10 crore court building and judges' residential project on land whose ownership is still under litigation.

The development has raised questions over the decision to proceed with a major government-funded project before the ownership dispute is resolved.

According to PWD documents, the estimated cost of the proposed Shahzadpur Chowki Court building and associated residential facilities is Tk30,10,18,968. The project was initiated under an approved architectural and spatial design, with PWD officials instructed to inspect the proposed site and prepare a preliminary cost estimate.

On March 4, PWD Project Circle-2 Superintending Engineer Mahbub Hasan directed the concerned officials to inspect the site and submit a draft estimate based on actual conditions. Following the instruction, Sirajganj PWD Executive Engineer Mahmadul Hasan inspected the site and submitted the estimated cost report on March 29.

The problem, however, is that the proposed site has been at the centre of a legal dispute for more than a decade.

Records from the upazila administration show that the Chowki Court does not have sufficient land of its own for the proposed project. The site was therefore identified on land used by the Shahzadpur Upazila Parishad.

The court side filed a case in 2013, naming the district administration and six others as defendants, challenging the ownership of the land. The case remains pending.

In 2026, the plaint was amended to claim nearly seven acres of Upazila Parishad land, further intensifying the dispute.

The disputed property currently accommodates offices, staff quarters and a dormitory of the Upazila Parishad and other government agencies. Records maintained by the Upazila Parishad also show that the land is listed under its khatian, while the parishad has been paying land development tax on at least 65.12 decimals of the land currently used by the court.

A site visit also found government offices and residential facilities operating on the land claimed by the court.

The land dispute has also triggered a separate civil violation case against Shahzadpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sabrina Sharmin.

According to court and administrative records, the court's serestadar filed the civil violation case against the UNO on July 14. Sharmin submitted a written objection on July 19, arguing that an interim injunction had been issued without giving the government side an opportunity to be heard and that proper notice had not been served.

The court subsequently considered some of the remarks made in the objection regarding the proceedings to be contemptuous and ordered the UNO to appear personally and explain her position.

The UNO later sought additional time, citing illness and the need to prepare her response, but the request was rejected. The court recorded the plaintiff's ex parte statement on August 13 and fixed August 27 for the next order.

In a separate order, the court also directed the PWD to construct a boundary wall by August 25.

The move to prepare a site plan despite the pending ownership dispute has prompted questions about how the project was taken forward.

When asked how the housing project's site plan was prepared before the land case was resolved, Shahzadpur Chowki Court Nazir Robiul Hasan told Views Bangladesh that he was unaware of the PWD site plan.

He said he had been on leave for four to five days. However, the PWD had submitted the site plan and cost estimate for the project on March 29.

Sirajganj PWD Executive Engineer Mahmadul Hasan could not be reached despite several attempts to contact him.

Abdur Rahim, who identified himself as the personal assistant to PWD Rajshahi Zone Additional Chief Engineer Om Prakash Nandi, said the additional chief engineer was out of the office.

He said the Sirajganj PWD would not normally prepare a site plan on land involved in an ongoing case, suggesting that the department may have proceeded without being aware of the legal dispute between the court and the Upazila Parishad.

The controversy now leaves a key question hanging: can a Tk30 crore-plus government project move forward on disputed land while the ownership case remains pending?