Babu Bazar car park not leased to highest bidder?

The Dhaka South City Corporation's (DSCC) estate department has been accused of not leasing the Babu Bazar car park in Dhaka to the highest bidder even after he deposited all the money following relevant terms.

Instead, the contract has allegedly been awarded to another person through a re-tender, violating a High Court stay order issued on the re-tender call.

Saleh Mohammad, who claimed to have been the highest bidder, raised the allegations at a press conference on Monday at Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the capital.

However, the DSCC authorities denied the allegations and claimed that they had done everything as per the law.

The parking lot, which has an area of 28,051 square feet under the Babu Bazar Bridge, is located at the DSCC's ward-32. The lessee is supposed to maintain the parking area as per the tender notice.

Saleh Mohammad said, "I got the approval letter of the lease as the highest bidder after a tender on January 30 this year from the DSCC's estate department. Then, I submitted Tk42 lakh, including leasing money, VAT and income tax, to the city corporation's bank account."

"But when I frequently asked about the work order, the authority did not respond. Suddenly, a re-tender was called on July 15, and the lease was given to another person who finally got the work order."

"We challenged the decision in the High court, and a stay order was issued on the re-tender. But the DSCC authorities violated the court order awarding the work order to someone else," added Saleh.

He mentioned that he tried to meet the mayor but the city corporation officers did not give him a chance.

"I have all legal papers following the leasing process. I will follow any decision made by the mayor if I can meet him."

However, Md Rasel Sabrin, DSCC's chief estate officer, said, "We did everything as per the rules and regulations and guidelines of the higher authorities."

He mentioned that they did not get any court order. "If we received it, we must follow it."