HC freezes Evaly asset sale, transfer

The High Court yesterday issued an injunction order restraining controversial e-commerce platform Evaly, which allegedly has liabilities of more than Tk 1,000 crore, from selling and transferring its assets until further order.

The company bench of Justice Muhamad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after holding the hearing on an application filed by an aggrieved Evaly customer Md Farhad Hossen seeking the necessary directives for winding up of the company and distributing the proceeds among creditors.

Hossen had ordered a washing machine from Evaly in May and made payment through mobile financial services provider bKash and Nagad.

He did not get the product nor a refund in the four months, which prompted him to take the legal route, said Sayed Mahsib Hossain, one of the lawyers fighting the case for Hossen.

The bench also asked the representatives of respondents to appear before it on September 30 to explain why they should not be directed to wind up of Evaly, Sayed Mahsib Hossain, a lawyer for Farhad Hossen, told The Daily Star.

The respondents are Evaly, the Registrar of Joint Stock of Companies and Firms, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, the Consumer Right Protection Bureau, the managing director of Nagad, the chairman of bKash, the Bangladesh Competition Commission, the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, the Bangladesh Bank and the commerce secretary, Hossain said.

In the order, the HC said the prayer for forming a board of directors to take control of Evaly's affairs, management and business will be considered after the appearance of the respondents.

The bench fixed September 30 for passing further order on the issue.

Meanwhile, Muzahidur Rahman, another customer of Evaly filed a case against its Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Rassel and Chairperson Shamima Nasrin of embezzlement through forgery.

This is the fourth case against the couple, who were arrested from their home in the capital's Mohammadpur on Thursday.

Rahman had purchased an air conditioner for Tk 85,000 but he never got the product. He asked for a refund several times but in vain.

The case was filed with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Debdash Chandra Adhikary, said Azad Rahman, a state lawyer.

The magistrate took cognisance of the case, recorded the complainant's statements and directed the officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi Police Station to register the complaint as a regular case, he added.

In another development, two Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition with the HC to form a judicial committee to inquire into the alleged embezzlement of money, money laundering and fraudulence by problematic e-commerce platforms including Evaly, Alesha Mart, E-orange, Dhamaka, Qcom, Aladiner Prodip and Dalal Plus.

Lawyers Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallob and Mohammad Kawser submitted the petition as public interest litigation to the HC requesting it to form the committee to ascertain the persons or the government authorities whose negligence or failure caused serious financial loss and damage to millions of customers.