Writ filed seeking ban on hilsa export to India

A writ has been filed with the High Court (HC) seeking a permanent ban on hilsa export to different countries including India.

A Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Mahmudul Hasan filed the writ on Tuesday with the concerned department of HC.

The writ has also sought the postponement of the commerce ministry’s decision taken on 4 and 19 September over the approval of hilsa export.

Earlier on 14 September, the lawyer served a legal notice to the four government’s secretaries and three agencies’ chairmen, seeking necessary steps over banning hilsa export to India by seven days.        

Lawyer Mahmudul Hasan told Prothom Alo that he filed the writ as they didn't reply to the notice. The writ will be produced before the court for hearing next week.  

Commerce secretary, fisheries and livestock secretary, foreign secretary, private airlines and tourism secretary, the office of chief controller of import and export and Bangladesh Tourism Corporation chairman have been made respondents to the writ.   

Quoting the newspaper report, the writ said, a poor farmer cannot purchase a kilogram (Kg) of hilsa by selling two mounds of his harvested paddy as the price of the national fish increased to Tk 1,800 a kg in the local market.

But the fish is exported to India at Tk 950 per kg, which is half of the local market price. Apart from this, as per the export policy of 2021-24, hilsa is not an item which can be exported freely, the writ added.