HC clears way to continue proceedings of cheque dishonor cases against Evaly

Staff Reporter  :
The High Court on Tuesday clears way to continue proceedings of the cheque dishonor cases filed against controversial e-commerce platform Evaly Limited.
It has rejected an application filed by the authorities of the Evaly Limited that sought direction to stay all further proceedings of the cheque dishonor cases filed against the organization.
The High Court bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury passed the order after hearing on the petition.
Barrister A M Masum and Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain who filed the winding up petition on behalf of Md Farhad Hossain, a defrauded customer of the Evaly, vehemently opposed the application during the hearing.
Barrister Mahsib Hossain said, “By filing the application Evaly Chairman Shamima

Nasrin and its former CEO Mohammad Russel wanted to get away with their criminal liabilities, while using the winding up proceeding as a veil.
However, we were able to draw the courts’ attention to this and accordingly the High Court rejected the application filed by Evaly for staying all the proceeding under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act pending in all over the country against Shamima Nasrin and Russel and for a direction so that no new proceeding shall commence against them except with the leave of the court”

Barrister Shamim Ahmed Mehedi submitted the petition in March on behalf of the Evaly authorities. About 300 cheque dishonor cases have been filed against Evaly so far, added the lawyer.
Evaly Limited has issued cheques to different entities and individuals in course of their business and when the cheques were placed before the concerned banks they were simply bounced. And as such the victims had no other option but to file criminal cases against the management of the company under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act to punish the offender.
In last September a new five-member Board of Directors was formed to run the company. The latest board included former Chairman of the Evaly Shamima Nasrin, Shamima’s mother Farida Talukder Lily and her sister’s husband Md Mamunur Rashid as per the direction of the High Court.
It has also included a representative from the Ministry of Commerce and a representative appointed by the e-commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).