Dhaka, May 16 (UNB) - The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to constitute a high-powered committee to investigate the allegation brought against Awami League MP Aslamul Huq of grabbing a piece of land of Government Bangla College at Mirpur in the capital.

During the hearing on the rule, an HC division bench comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Jahangir Hossain asked the cabinet secretary to constitute the committee with the Director General of Department of Land Record and Surveys as its head and a Deputy Secretary of the Ministry for Law to conduct the inquiry.

The probe committee will submit its report before the court by June 15, said the HC order.

Passing the order, the bench also set June 16 for further hearing on the issue and asked the AL MP, the principal of the college and reporter of Bangladesh Pratidin to appear before it to explain about the allegation.

Incompliance with the preceding of the HC order, ruling party MP Aslamul Huq appeared before the HC bench on Wednesday. He told the court that he had purchased the land from Sundarban Courier Service in between 2006 and 2009.

On May 9, responding to a public interest litigation writ petition, the
HC issued rule upon the government to explain why its failure to protect the four-bigha land should not be declared illegal and asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to recover the land from the possession of the ruling party MP from Dhaka-14 constituency.

Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed the PIL writ petition following a report on alleged land grabbing published in Bangladesh Pratidin on May 5.