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Court Reporter //

Of the orders given by the High Court to appoint ‘receiver’ in the management of Beximco Group companies, the Appellate Division has stayed only in the case of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited. The Appellate Division has issued this order by ordering the High Court to settle the rule in this regard within two weeks.

The three-member Appellate Division headed by Senior Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam, the senior judge of the Appellate Division, issued this order on Tuesday. The High Court bench headed by Justice Farah Mahbub has been asked to settle the rule in this regard.

The High Court, after holding a preliminary hearing on a writ petition on September 5, issued the order along with the rule. In it, Bangladesh Bank was directed to attach all the properties of Beximco Group and appoint a ‘receiver’ to manage the companies of the group for six months.

A leave to appeal (application for leave to appeal) was filed in the Appellate Division on behalf of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, seeking a stay on the High Court’s order to appoint a ‘receiver’ in the Beximco Group.

The leave to appeal was heard in the Chamber Court on October 1. On that day, the court scheduled the leave to appeal for hearing in the regular bench of the Appellate Division. Following this, the order was issued today after the hearing yesterday.

Senior lawyers Fida M Kamal and Mustafizur Rahman Khan heard the leave to appeal in the court. Senior lawyer Masud R Sobhan himself heard the writ petition, accompanied by lawyer Fatema S Chowdhury. Lawyer Muniruzzaman heard the petition for Bangladesh Bank.

After the order, senior lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan told the media that the High Court has been asked to hear the rule within two weeks and settle it. A bench headed by Justice Farah Mahbub has been appointed for this. The order to appoint a receiver at this time will be suspended only for Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited. As a result, no receiver is being appointed at Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited at this time.

Masud R. Sobhan, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, filed a writ petition in the High Court on September 4, seeking information on loan waiver after repayment in all other businesses of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited and related companies in the last 25 years.

After hearing, the High Court issued a rule on September 5 and issued an order with directions. In another direction, Bangladesh Bank was directed to recover the money taken by Salman F. Rahman, the founder of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, from various banks and to bring back the money sent abroad.

However, Beximco Pharmaceuticals filed a leave to appeal seeking a stay only on the order regarding the appointment of a receiver. The Appellate Division, after settling the leave to appeal, issued the order today.

The High Court order states that a rule has been issued to provide information on the amount of outstanding loans of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited and other business entities of Salman F. Rahman’s Beximco Group of Companies, the current status of the loans and repayments, and to appoint a receiver to manage them by attaching all the properties of Beximco Group. The rule has been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks. The High Court has been asked to dispose of this rule within two weeks.

Salman F. Rahman, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s private industry and investment advisor, is the vice chairman of Beximco Group. He is now in prison after the Awami League government fell on August 5 in a student-public uprising. Beximco is one of the top companies in garment exports and pharmaceutical production.

Bangladesh Bank has already appointed a ‘receiver’ to the leading industrial group Beximco Group. In view of the High Court order, the central bank’s executive director Md. Ruhul Amin has been appointed as the receiver.