The chamber judge of the Appellate Division has for now upheld the decision to cancel the licence of Kashvi Enterprise over allegations that it imported 31 birds not covered by its no-objection certificate (NOC) and kept 65 pet birds on its farm without papers.
On 3 April the chamber judge court of Appellate Division Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam stayed a High Court order that had suspended the order of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division cancelling the firm's licence.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik appeared for the state at the hearing.
Why the licence was cancelled
He said that on 23 October the divisional forest officer of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division told the firm's owner, Kishor Mitra Ojha, in a memo that a no-objection certificate had been issued on 26 July last year for importing a set number of birds. Of the 36 birds imported against that NOC, 31 were found to be outside it. For this, Kashvi Enterprise and a shipping company were fined Tk 2,78,96,066.
The memo also said a patrol team inspecting the site at Ashulia in Savar found that the owner had obtained and renewed a licence and possession certificate in the name of Lovely World Environment, but had imported birds with an NOC in the name of Kashvi Enterprise. During the inspection the patrol team saw 65 pet birds of various species. Employees could not show their origin or the necessary papers, and the farm failed to produce a register or report of its records, in breach of rule 12(1) and rule 13 of the Pet Bird Management Rules, 2020.
Because birds outside the NOC were imported from Cyprus and no information could be given about the 65 pet birds, the pet bird rearing farm licence and possession certificate were cancelled.
Appeal and writ
On 22 November Kishor Mitra Ojha appealed against this to the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He argued that an appeal over the fine for the imported birds was pending, and that cancelling the licence without any show-cause notice was unlawful.
Amin Uddin Manik said the law allows 30 days for an appeal to be settled, but before that time ran out the owners filed a writ petition with the High Court. On 13 December the High Court issued a rule and suspended the 23 October memo for six months. The state then applied to the Appellate Division, and after the hearing on Wednesday the chamber court stayed the High Court order for eight weeks. As a result, the firm's licence remains cancelled.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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