The High Court has issued a contempt of court rule against Touhida Islam, Assistant Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House, for failing to release an imported consignment within the time specified by a previous court order. The bench of Justice Fahmida Kader and Justice Asif Hasan issued the rule on Monday after hearing a contempt petition filed by Yasir Arafat, owner of Warda & Zubair Agro Industries Limited. The court asked why contempt proceedings should not be initiated for non-compliance with its earlier directive and ordered Touhida Islam to respond within 14 days.

According to court documents, the company imported 28 tons of rock salt from Pakistan and submitted the bill of entry on May 5. Despite a High Court order on May 21 directing release within seven days, customs authorities delayed, citing the need for a no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Industries. The Appellate Division later dismissed the customs appeal on June 21, but the consignment remained unreleased.

The importer claims that the consignment’s prolonged detention at Chattogram Port has incurred storage and demurrage costs exceeding 2.2 million taka, more than double the product’s import value.