Alhaj Textile files writ against BSEC, secures stay order
Alhaj Textile Mills, on Wednesday, filed a writ petition against the securities regulator's decision of appointing four independent directors at the company and has also secured a stay order for six months.
The company and its incumbent Managing Director Mohammed Bakhtiar Rahman, in a joint petition, also pleaded for a rule regarding the legality of the appointment of the independent directors, according to the petitioners' lawyer Sayeda Nasrin.
The respondent has got four weeks to reply to the rule, she added.
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Following internal conflict, grouping and litigation that halted the company's banking transactions, the BSEC on 5 June reconstructed the board of Alhaj Textile by removing three of the five independent directors it appointed earlier. Alongside, the BSEC had appointed two new independent directors and the high court stayed the effectiveness of the BSEC letter.
Later, one of the two new independent directors resigned. Also, the name of one of the continuing independent directors emerged in the Anti Corruption Commission's charge sheet in the BASIC Bank scam case, said Nasrin.
"Alhaj Textile was a 'B' category company and legally the BSEC can appoint independent directors in a 'Z' category company," she told TBS.
However, Alhaj Textile was in a deadlock due to litigation with its lender, while it was also running without having 30% shareholding by sponsor-directors.
The BSEC stepped in during the pandemic and assigned the reconstructed board to solve the problems.
BSEC spokesperson, Executive Director Rezaul Karim told TBS, BSEC appointed independent directors in a number of troubled listed companies to protect public shareholders' interest and it was done in compliance with the securities law.
"Our legal team is working on the writ matter," he said.
