Why appointment of administrators in cash is not illegal, High Court rules issued
September 17, 20243 Mins Read
Jumbangla Desk: The High Court has issued a ruling seeking to know why the appointment of Bangladesh Bank administrators in mobile financial service cash should not be illegal. The High Court has fixed time for the Governor of Bangladesh Bank and the Finance Secretary to respond in this regard within the next ten days.

The bench of Justice Farhad Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub ul Islam issued this rule on Tuesday.

Cash executive director. The High Court issued this rule in view of a writ petition filed by Safayet Alam.

A panel of lawyers led by Barrister Zamir Uddin Sarkar conducted the writ on behalf of Safayet Alam.

The other members of the panel were senior advocates Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus (Kajal), Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan and Barrister Naushad Zamir. Barrister Naushad Zamir filed the writ in the High Court on September 10.

Regarding this ruling of the High Court, the founder of Naqd, Tanveer A Mishuk, said, "From the beginning, we have been saying that administrators have been appointed illegally in Naqd, one of the best mobile financial institutions in the country, without respecting the prevailing laws. Today in court the first argument in favor of our claim has been established.'

According to Tanveer A Mishuk, the founder of Naqd, this has been done in a planned way to directly benefit another organization by destroying Naqd.

Earlier, Bangladesh Bank Director Muhammad Badiuzzaman Didar was appointed as administrator on August 21. At the same time, Bangladesh Bank sent six more people as administrative assistants in cash. The next morning they first sent the police and later came in person and took over the cash office by force without showing any written instructions.

They started harassing cash workers one by one with responsibility. At the same time, many were given verbal instructions not to come to the office, including forcing them to resign from various positions. In this case, the administrators and their representatives also intimidated the workers.

Tanveer said, "In the case of appointment of administrators, the procedural issue is clearly described in the 'Payment and Settlement System Act 2024', but Bangladesh Bank has overlooked it. Rather hastily appointed administrators in cash. A thorough analysis of the incident shows that Bangladesh Bank appointed a cash administrator on the prescription of a particular party.

He said that according to the law, if there is a need to appoint an administrator in an institution, Bangladesh Bank should first inform that institution and give the institution an opportunity to defend itself. But the former chairman of BRAC Bank and the current governor of Bangladesh Bank, Ahsan H. Mansoor, did not follow this section of the law in the case of cash. However, there is an obligation in this regard in section 31(2) of the 'Payment and Settlement System Act 2024'.

Bangladesh Bank has tried to give extra benefits to a particular party by making this legal deviation. We think that Bangladesh Bank has appointed administrators in cash very hastily. We have gone to court to seek legal redressal in this regard and we have initially won,' said Tanveer.

In 2017, through an agreement with the Department of Posts, cash was ceremonially launched in March 2019. Due to its association with government institutions, the commercial activities of the institution started with the help of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It is mainly for this reason that with the change of government, efforts are being made to put a political 'tag' on cash. Tanveer believes that administrators have been appointed overnight to re-establish a monopoly in the mobile financial services market in Bangladesh.

All in all, a reign of terror has been established in the cash office and as a result, the cash transaction volume has gone down a lot, said the founder of Naqd. Even a couple of months ago, an average daily transaction in cash was 1800 crore rupees. But already it has come down to almost half. By this process the larger market of cash is conspired to be handed over to another institution.

He said, 'Bangladesh Bank has unlimited powers and responsibilities as a regulatory body. However, they cannot do anything against the law. We have approached the court to seek redressal of this incident. Besides declaring the appointment of administrator as illegal, this writ has been made to permanently stop the appointment of administrator.

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