BANGLADESH

The High Court has directed the authorities to stop within 24 hours the unauthorised construction work of Destiny Group in Cox's Bazar district.

The bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Jahangir Hossain passed the order on Wednesday after hearing a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).

The rights organisation pressed the petition following a report published in a Bengali daily that Destiny Group is building a multi-storied building in the Cox's Bazar without approval from the appropriate authorities.

The deputy commissioner (DC) of Cox's Bazar district, superintended of police (SP) and officer-in-charge of Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station have been directed to implement the order and submit a progress report by May 6.

The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain why its inaction to protect the environment of Cox's Bazar would not be declared illegal and why it would not be directed to remove the construction materials.

The environment secretary, director general of the Department of Environment (DoE), the Cox's Bazar DC and SP and municipal mayor have been directed to respond to the rule within three weeks.

Counsel for the petitioner Manzill Murshid told that the High Court on Mar 13 asked the government to take steps to stop all constructions inside the "ecologically critical area" on the Cox's Bazar beach.

"But the Destiny Group is constructing multi-storied building there which is contrary to the rule of law," he added.

An allegation of making up 'fake plaintiff' has surfaced to withdraw a case filed on charges of fraud against four people including Destiny Multipurpose Co-operative Society chairman and Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif's 'Pir'.

The issue of the 'fake plaintiff' in the case came to light on Sunday when two lawyers for the plaintiff contradicted his location and pleas in the court of magistrate Mohammad Hasibul Haque of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Haque, after hearing plea of both lawyers, ordered Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police to check the voter ID cards of the two people who claimed themselves as plaintiffs. Police will have to submit their findings on May 15.

The court also ordered the Ramna Police Station officer-in-charge to make sure that first plaintiff Syed Shariful Haque Chishti is produced before the court on Tuesday.

One of the plaintiffs' lawyers, Amirul Islam, in his plea, said, "After filing the case on Mar 13, Syed Shariful Haque Chishti has gone missing. And now, the accused in the case are trying to withdraw the case by presenting a fake plaintiff."

Islam claimed, "The fake plaintiff's name is Shariful Islam, son of late Wasim Uddin. But Chishti is the real plaintiff, son of late Syed Nasirul Haque Chishti."

The lawyer also urged the court to protect the 'real' plaintiff and take measures against the 'fake' one.

Meanwhile, Shariful Chishti's lawyer Mohammad Golam Sarwar in a plea submitted on Mar 28 to withdraw the case said the case was filed following a misunderstanding between the plaintiff and the accused. But now, the plaintiff does not want to continue with the case as they have reached an understanding, he said.

The judge ordered to quash the case following his plea.

But Amirul on Sunday raised the allegation of creating a 'fake' plaintiff to drop the case.

Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif's Pir Mohammad Jakir Shah's former 'Khadem' Shariful Haque Chishti filed the case at the Dhaka CMM's Court on Mar 13 accusing Jakir Shah, Destiny Multi-purpose Co-operative Society Limited chairman Amin, one Kabir Hossain and Ismail Hossain Babu.

Magistrate Hasibul Haque had ordered the accused to be present in court on Apr 15 after the hearing that day.

According to the case details, the accused confined Chishti inside the Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif and forced him to sign some stamped blank cartridge papers on Apr 13 last year.

Later, he came to know that some pieces of land he owned at his paternal home were sold to Destiny Co-operative Society chairman Amin by Pir Jakir Shah for Tk 16.5 crore.

When Chishti went to him to talk about it, the accused had threatened to kill him, the case details said.

The government is considering initiating action against Destiny-2000 Ltd 'to protect people from deception', finance minister A M A Muhith said on Saturday.

"A commission like the one on Jubok will be formed to bar assets transfer by such firms," Muhith told reporters at his office.

Muhith's remarks followed recent newspaper reports on 'illegal banking' by Destiny Group.

"Media reports on Destiny are alarming," he said. "The government can't keep sitting and watching the situation."

"Jubok couldn't transfer all assets as its properties were confiscated. This will help in compensating its clients to some extent. A similar commission will be formed to look into this (Destiny) case also," he said.

The minister informed that the finance and commerce ministries and other related departments have already started working to form the commission.

Jubo Karmasangsthan Society, better known as Jubok, was found indulging in illegal banking by a central bank investigation in July 2006. It was asked to repay Tk 1 billion it owed to its depositors.

Jubok was listed as a 'society' with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies.

A few days back, the parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry had decided to request the finance minister and the central bank governor for action against Destiny 2000 Ltd-like multi-level marketing (MLM) companies.

Following the parliamentary watchdog's move, the Bangladesh Bank on Apr 1 issued a statement warning people against investing in unapproved banking institutions.

"It is to notify all that some institutions under various names are operating like banks in various districts across the country. They are collecting money from people by promising an abnormally higher rate of interest and profits," said the central bank statement.

62 REGISTERED MLM COMPANIES

On Mar 6 last year, then commerce minister Muhammad Faruk Khan had said there are 62 registered MLM companies operating in Bangladesh.

He had told parliament that only Destiny has 4.5 million clients and that other MLM companies have fewer clients. Another prominent MLM company is Unipay-2 U.

The government is 'disturbed' to see the media reports on Destiny, the finance minister said on Saturday.

Two weeks ago, the central bank sent a report on Destiny to the finance ministry. The report alleged that Destiny-2000 is conducting illegal banking.

LAW ON MLM COMPANIES

Muhith went on to say the government has taken steps to formulate a law to bring MLM business under a legal framework.

The government took steps to formulate the law after clients of another prominent MLM company, Unipay-2 U, took to the streets in 2010 following allegations of deception by the company.

A commerce ministry official, requesting anonymity, told that they have already finalised a draft of the law but could not it present before the cabinet due to some objections by the public administration ministry.

"The draft proposes to form a directorate and appoint staff there. But the public administration ministry is not giving its clearance to the manpower recruitment clause. So, the draft hasn't been presented to the cabinet," he said.

JUBOK CLIENTS YET TO BE PAID BACK

Hapless clients of Jubok are yet to be repaid though six years have gone by since the MLM company was shut.

The central bank asked the company to stop illegal banking and pay back its depositors by March 2006. But as it failed to repay its clients within the stipulated time, the government shut its operations.

After the current government assumed office, a commission headed by former central bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin was formed to make proposals on Jubok and how to repay its clients.

The commission recommended selling off Jubok's assets to make the repayment and also suggested forming a permanent commission to keep a tab on such incidents.

Following the proposal, the government formed a permanent commission headed by former joint secretary Rafikul Islam. But the Jubok clients are yet to get their money back.