HC questions vacating 9 Grameen Bank director posts
The High Court today questioned the legality of a government notice that declared the posts of nine elected directors of microlender Grameen Bank vacant.
It issued a rule asking the government authorities to explain in 10 days as to why the notice should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo came up with the rule after hearing a writ petition by Tahsina Khatun, a former elected director, challenging the legality of the notice.
The finance ministry sent the notice to the government-appointed chairman of Grameen Bank on March 30, saying the posts of the nine elected directors of the micro lender have become vacant since their three-year tenure expired on February 7 this year.
The notice said the chairman along with two other directors nominated by the government will now be sufficient to hold meetings of the board of the bank.
Challenging the ministry's decision, Tahsina submitted the writ petition on April 6 stating that the posts of the nine elected directors would be vacant after the election commission announces the election schedule to select their replacements, as stated in Grameen Bank (Director Election) Rules, 2014.
But, the government is yet to appoint the election commission, let alone announcing the election schedule. As a result, the posts of the nine elected directors cannot be declared vacant, she said.
The petitioner also said the finance ministry has issued the notice to the Grameen Bank chairman illegally.
The 12-member Grameen Bank board is comprised of nine borrower-directors, who are elected every three years, and three government-nominated directors, one of whom serves as chairman.
The expiry of the tenure of the borrower-directors has created a situation, for the first time since the bank's inception three decades ago, where borrowers, who own 75 percent shares of the bank, do not have any representation in the board.
“The borrower-shareholders are the real owners of the bank. A board where there is no representation of the borrowers can't be a board of Grameen Bank,” Tahsina had told The Daily Star earlier.
Mustafizur Rahman Khan and Tanim Hussain Shawon argued for the petitioner, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Amatul Karim Swapna represented the government.
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