Dhaka: The Supreme Court on Monday granted Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) one more year for demolishing its complex located in the Hatirjheel-Begunbari Lake.

A four-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order after the apex trade body of the country’s garment sector submitted a fresh undertaking mentioning that it would not seek any more time for pulling down the building.

Advocate Imtiaj Moinul Islam, who stood for BGMEA, said the trade body will get time until April 12, 2019 for demolishing its complex.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court asked the BGMEA to submit a fresh bond and fixed today (Monday) for passing an order on the petition filed by it seeking time for demolishing the BGMEA Bhaban in the lake.

On Tuesday last, the SC asked the BGMEA to give an undertaking that it would not file any more time petition over demolishing its building. As it submitted a bond on Wednesday, the apex court found it incomplete and ordered the trade body to submit it again inserting a few more lines.

On March 5, the BGMEA authorities filed a one-year time petition with the Supreme Court as its seven-month time granted in September, 2017 by the SC for reducing the building to ruins expired in March.

The BGMEA lost its last legal battle to keep its structure intact on the scenic water body as the Appellate Division rejected its plea seeking review of its judgment that upheld an earlier High Court verdict, ordering demolition of the structure.

In 2011, the High Court ordered demolition of the 16-storey building as it was constructed in defiance of relevant laws, calling it a ‘cancer’ in the lake.

The BGMEA later filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division against the High Court judgment, but the apex court on June 2, 2016, dismissed the plea as well as asked the RMG producers to demolish its headquarters at once and at its own cost.