In a case involving the Fifth Amendment, the owner of Moon Cinema and Italian Marble Company, was given Tk one billion cheque by the ministry of the liberation war affairs. But the appellate division has ordered an amendment to the cheque and has suspended the hearing till Jul 21 next.

The order came from the appellate bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain while the state was represented by attorney general Mahbubey Alam.

Earlier, on Dec 10, appellate division gave the owner of Moon Cinema till 30 June to pay Tk one billion.

Italian Marble Company was the owner of Moon Cinema in Wiseghat which was declared abandoned during the liberation war; later, the property was placed under the Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Trust.

After some time, MD of Italian Marble Company, Maksudul Alam demanded the ownership of the hall and challenged the fifth- amendment at the high court in 2000.

On Aug 9, a high court order declared the period of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and Ziaur Rahman as unconstitutional; an appeal was launched against it on Feb 2, 2010, but appellate upheld the high court’s decision and Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Trust was asked to return Moon Cinema to Italian Marble within 90 days.

To get back the asset, Italian Marbles lodged contempt of court case against six persons of the Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Trust.

In such a situation, the high court appointed a neutral engineer to assess the land price on Jan 15, 2017.

Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury, was asked to carry out the valuation; later, a report on the matter was raised at the court.