Steps have been taken to preserve the Chief Justice's official residence at 19 Hare Road in the capital as a heritage. For this, the Department of Archeology has started the process of declaring the building as a 'protected antiquities'.
In a notice on Thursday (October 10), this information was given by the Public Relations Officer of the Supreme Court Shafiqul Islam.
On the day of the fall of the government on August 5, the residence of the Chief Justice was attacked and looted.
Referring to this incident, the notification said, in view of the unexpected damage, Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed has taken the initiative to permanently preserve this historically important structure. As the first step of that initiative, the Chief Justice held a meeting with the officials of the Supreme Court Administration and Archeology Directorate on September 25. In that meeting, it was decided to preserve the building by declaring it protected antiquities. Director General of Department of Archeology Sabina Alam was present in the meeting.
According to the decision of the meeting, the Supreme Court administration wrote a letter to the Director General of the Department of Archeology on October 6. In view of that letter, last Wednesday (October 9), Deputy Director of the Directorate of Archeology Amiruzzaman directed the Dhaka and Mymensingh regional director of the directorate to inspect the residence and submit a report.
Highlighting the history and architectural style of the building, the notification said, in 1905, after making Dhaka the capital of East Bengal and Assam in the context of the Partition of Bengal movement, one of the residential buildings that were built for high-ranking government officials is the residence of the Chief Justice of Hare Road. The building was constructed in 1908 in a blend of Mughal and European architecture.
After the annulment partition of Bengal in 1911, the building was used for various purposes, but since the fifties, the building has been used as the residence of the Chief Justice.
According to the notification, according to the Antiquities Act, 1968, the building will be considered a national treasure if the ownership and use rights are preserved in favor of the Supreme Court. Declaring the 116-year-old structure as protected antiquities will help preserve its heritage in view of its historical importance and highlight the importance and heritage of the structure to the future generations.