Accord hearing now pushed to Jan 21

The Supreme Court yesterday deferred for a fifth time the date for hearing of an appeal filed by the Accord for extending its stay in Bangladesh.

The apex court fixed January 21 for further hearing on the leave-to-appeal petition filed by the Accord, an agency formed with over 200 retailers and brands mostly European to ensure workplace safety in Bangladesh's garment sector.

The petition was filed challenging a High Court directive that asked the Accord to stop its activities and operations after November 30.

Yesterday, a seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after Accord's lawyer AM Aminuddin sought the adjournment.

Aminuddin told The Daily Star that he sought the adjournment as he would have to talk to the high officials of the Accord for placing arguments before the court.

He added there was no legal bar for the Accord to run its activities till January 21 following the SC order.

“I hope the Accord will agree to follow the conditions by this time,” said Additional Attorney General Murad Reza, who appeared for the government.

The government has set eight conditions and asked Accord to fulfill the conditions if it wants to stay in Bangladesh.

However, the Accord wants to continue its operations without any conditions.

As of November, the Accord-affiliated factories have completed 90 percent of remediation works. Of the nearly 1,600 factories inspected, 91 have fully completed their remediation.