Farmers being harassed for small loans: SC

The Supreme Court today expressed its frustration saying while poor farmers were being harassed for failing to repay small loans, big lawyers fight to save people from repaying loans of hundreds of crores of taka.

A three-member bench of the SC's Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique made the remark during the hearing of a "leave to appeal petition" challenging a High Court order that directed one Md Masudur Rahman and his three family members to submit the wealth statements.

The apex court expressed its frustration at the petitioner's lawyer after learning that only Tk 5 lakh was repaid against the total amount of more than Tk 115 crore in loan and interest.

As such, the Appellate Division dismissed the petition, meaning Masudur and his family members must submit their wealth statements.

Speaking to this newspaper, Sonali Bank's lawyer Shamim Khaled Ahmed said that Fazlur Rahman, owner of "Fazlur Rahman and Company" in Narayanganj, had borrowed Tk 32 crore from the bank in 1996-1997. Fazlur Rahman died in 2017.

In 2017, the bank authorities filed a case with the money loan court, which issued a decree of Tk 102 core in favour of Sonali Bank.

Later in 2021, the bank filed a "money execution" case for collecting the money from Fazlur Rahman's four children including Masudur Rahman.

In this case, the court sentenced the accused to six months in civil jail.

At that time, the amount of loan and interest stood at Tk 115 crore.

Masudur then filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the order.

The HC then stayed the jail order and issued a rule questioning the legality of the order.

During the hearing of the rule, the HC on May 22 this year ordered Masudur and his family members to submit their wealth statements.

Masudur then filed the leave to appeal petition with the SC challenging the HC order.