The High Court has dismissed a rule questioning the legality of the Chattogram Port Authority’s ongoing process to sign an operational agreement with a foreign company for managing the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT). The single bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed delivered the verdict on Thursday, confirming that there is no legal barrier to the agreement. The court found that the process followed the 2017 procurement policy and a memorandum of understanding under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework with Dubai government-backed DP World.

Earlier, on July 30, the High Court had issued a rule asking why the process should not be declared beyond legal authority and why competitive public bidding should not be ensured before appointing an operator. On December 4, a split verdict was delivered by a two-member bench, prompting the Chief Justice to assign the matter to Justice Zafar Ahmed for final disposal.

Following the ruling, one of the petitioners’ lawyers said an appeal has been filed with the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the majority decision that dismissed the writ petition.