Ex-CEO Mahtab sues Robi, seeks Tk 227cr

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, a former chief executive officer of Robi Axiata Ltd, has filed a lawsuit against the telecom operator, its board chairman and former group CEO seeking Tk 227 crore in retirement benefits and compensation for 'wrongful dismissal'. 

He filed the case on Monday at the 1st Court of Joint District Judge, Dhaka, according to a statement issued by Ahmed's lawyer Hassan MS Azim.

Ahmed submitted his letter of resignation to the operator on August 2, 2021, and it came into effect on October 31 last year. He gave no reason for the decision.

The board of directors of the mobile phone operator accepted the resignation by issuing a letter dated August 5.

Two days later, however, Robi initiated a departmental proceeding by serving a show-cause notice on Ahmed regarding accounting transactions that took place in 2019, which Axiata Group and the Robi board were aware of, said the statement.

Robi dismissed Ahmed on May 22 this year, nine and a half months after accepting the resignation.

"The dismissal of our client on 22 May 2022 was done by a vested quarter with an ulterior motive," said the lawyer in the statement.

And the dismissal was based on certain allegations, which are absolutely false and baseless as has been found in the financial statements of 2021 prepared by Robi management and audited by Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co, an external independent audit firm, Azim said.

The statement stated that Ahmed continued to face challenges in dealing with former Group CEO Izzadin Idris since his becoming the chairman of the board of Robi, and later primarily on his long pending salary dispute.

"It is also to be mentioned that the GCEO [Group CEO] threatened my client in writing of 'consequences' multiple times well before the above allegation was brought in."

"It is very sad that I had to file a case against a company and the group where we contributed to each other's development," Ahmed told The Daily Star yesterday.

"It is unfortunate that former Group CEO Dato Izzadin Idris turned against me for our differences over a few issues, including a dispute over my salary, which culminated in a personal vendetta against me."

Idris was well supported by current Robi Chairman Thayaparan Sangarapillai who has many conflicting roles in Robi and Axiata, Ahmed alleged.

He termed the allegation of accounting irregularities as completely false as evident from the financial report for 2021.

Azim said the sole purpose of dismissing his client was not to pay his service benefits. "The dismissal also damaged my client's career," he added.

Mohammed Shahedul Alam, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Robi, said it has not yet received any document regarding the case.

"So, we can't comment on the issue right now."

Ahmed was appointed as the CEO of Robi in 2016, becoming the first Bangladeshi to helm the pole position of a major private mobile network company.

During his tenure, he led the merger of Robi with Airtel and the listing of the company on the stock market in 2020, which was the largest ever initial public offering in Bangladesh.

Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia retains the controlling stake of 61.82 per cent in Robi while Bharti Airtel of India holds 28.18 per cent and the general public holds the remaining 10 per cent stake in the company.

Shares of Robi were unchanged at Tk 30 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.

Robi, which operates brands Robi and Airtel in Bangladesh, has 5.45 crore customers as of June, becoming the second-largest operator in the country.