A Bangladeshi court today dismissed a plea by a pro-Jamaat-e-Islami organisation to retain possession of legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen's home in Pabna city.
A bench headed by Supreme Court Justice S K Sinha issued the order, clearing all legal hurdles that existed in recovering Sen's ancestral home at Hem Sagar Lane in the city.
There is now no legal bar to evict the Imam Ghazali Institute from the home, said Additional Attorney General Murad Reza, bdnews24.Com reported.
"There is no hurdle in setting up an archive of Suchitra Sen and conserve her ancestral home," he said.
The institute had moved the Appellate Division against a High Court order.
The High Court in August 2011 ordered the institute to vacate the house following a petition filed by an NGO, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
The Imam Ghazali Institute also filed a petition to stop eviction which was rejected by the High Court.
It filed an appeal against the order to the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division today dismissed both the pleas.
Born on Apr 6, 1931, Bengali screen legend Sen spent her childhood in the house before she moved to Kolkata after marriage.
She died on January 17 this year in Kolkata.
The district administration gave the house on annual lease to the Jamaat-backed Imam Ghazali Trust in 1987.
The trust appealed to the government for permanent possession of the house in June 1991, but the government turned down the request.
The lease was canceled in 1995 for non-payment. A Jamaat leader paid the dues and renewed the lease later in the year. The house is still in their possession.
After strident demands to oust the Jamaat from the house and convert it into a museum was raised by Pabna residents and various cultural organisations, the district administration in June 2009, cancelled the lease given to Jamaat.
It then served an eviction notice on the trust. But the trust filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court, which granted a stay on eviction.
The High Court on July 26, 2012 ordered the government to occupy the house within seven days following a petition by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
The Appellate Division stayed the High Court order the next day based on a plea by Imam Ghazali Institute's principal.
