Mobile Court Closed Due to No Magistrates

Narayanganj City Corporation (NASIC) does not have any executive magistrate, currently. How long has this situation been the NASIC has been through? There is no clear answer to that question. Even more concerning is that despite repeated requests to the government, not a single magistrate has been provided. Recently, the NASIC administration has sent letters to high government offices at least three times. Their demand is modest: to provide at least one magistrate for the entire NASIC area. In the most recent letter, they requested just two. But even that has not been granted.

As a result, NASIC's normal operations have collapsed. Regular oversight of citizen services such as mosquito control, footpath evictions, anti-adulteration and anti-drug campaigns, illegal parking control, and regulation of unfit vehicles has been disrupted. Furthermore, due to the absence of magistrates, mobile courts are not being held.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, on June 1st, the NASIC administration wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry requesting executive magistrates for the third time. The letter reflects the helplessness of the NASIC administration on every page. Meanwhile, while the problem persists, there have been changes in both key positions. The new NASIC administrator is Md. Sakhawat Hossain Khan, and the secretary is Md. Ehsanul Haq.

NASIC's journey began in 2011. It was formed by merging three separate municipalities to enhance administrative efficiency and improve the quality of citizen services. However, NASIC's own administration admits that the quality of those services has not yet reached a "satisfactory" level.

Mosquito larvae are breeding in stagnant water at under-construction buildings and residences; there is no mosquito control activity. Severe traffic congestion plagues the Level Crossings and Bus Terminal areas; there is no action against illegal parking. Unfit buses and illegal easy bikes are plying the streets; there is no means to take action. Footpaths on main roads are occupied by hawkers; construction materials also block the roads; no one is monitoring. Food at renowned hotels, restaurants, and sweet shops is being prepared in dirty and unhygienic environments; yet there is no way to conduct mobile courts. Open gambling and drug dens are being observed, but eyes are being forced to look away. These concerns are reflected in the thoughts of the administrator holding the mayor's position.
During the interim government's tenure, Selina Hayat Ivy was relieved from the position of Mayor of NASIC. Along with her departure, several other important positions also became vacant. Due to the magistrate crisis and lack of adequate police support, NASIC's own employees often conduct eviction drives against hawkers on Chashara and the city's main roads. These "eviction drives and mobile court operations" have given rise to multiple controversies.

However, urban planning expert Professor Akhtar Mahmud has made it clear that conducting a mobile court without an executive magistrate is out of the question, and even carrying out regular eviction drives would be considered illegal. He stated, "The mandate for such work has been given exclusively to magistrates. No one else can perform such duties. Therefore, in the absence of magistrates, such work will remain halted."

January 16, 2018. Clashes broke out between hawkers and supporters of the then-mayor over an eviction drive. Over fifty people were injured on both sides. At the time, questions were raised as to why such a drive was conducted without adequate magistrates and proper legal institutional framework. However, the mayor's supporters claimed that a certain quarter of the government had intentionally kept NASIC without magistrates to obstruct the development of Narayanganj as a planned city.

That "magistrate-less" label has not yet been removed. In one letter, NASIC Administrator Md. Sakhawat Hossain Khan said, "Due to the lack of magistrates, it is not possible to ensure legal enforcement, and the quality of citizen services is being disrupted." He believes that despite taking several initiatives to restore law and order and the quality of citizen services, these efforts are not seeing the light of day due to the inability to exercise legal authority. Citizen services have stagnated due to the absence of magistrates.