HC stays FBCCI election for two months

The High Court yesterday stayed for two months the process of holding the election of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das passed the order in response to a writ petition filed by Aminul Haque Shamim, president of Mymensingh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, seeking stay on the process.

As per rules, a director is supposed to be nominated from the Mymensingh division but the nomination was not present in the apex trade body's voter list, Shamim, who is also an elected director of the FBCCI, claimed in the petition.

The FBCCI election was scheduled to be held on May 14, petitioner's counsel Barrister Bodruddoza Badal told The Daily Star.

Citing the petition, the lawyer said the commerce ministry is required to publish a gazette notification in respect to the nomination of directors from the divisional chambers of commerce and industries under the Trade Organisation Ordinance, 1981.

But, Mymensingh Chamber of Commerce and Industries has been left out of the list in the gazette, although Mymensingh has been declared a division in 2015, he said.

Barrister Bodruddoza said the president of the Mymensingh chamber applied to the commerce secretary in March last year to include his name in the gazette notification as a nominated director of the FBCCI. His name is yet to be included.

When the FBCCI took the initiative to hold the election by appointing members of its election board, the writ petitioner moved a petition before the HC challenging the same.

Following the petition, the HC on March 6 directed the commerce ministry to dispose of the application of the Mymensingh chamber president, but the ministry refused to consider the plea on the ground that the election schedule has been declared.

After hearing the writ petition, the HC yesterday issued a rule asking the respondents to explain in four weeks why they should not be ordered to include a director nominated by the Mymensingh chamber in the voter list of FBCCI election.

Commerce secretary, FBCCI president and its members and election board have been made respondents to the rule, the counsel added.