The Supreme Court has stayed for three days a High Court order, clearing the way for the government revenue authority to freeze all the bank accounts of Robi Axiata on charges of VAT evasion.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order upon hearing a National Board of Revenue (NBR) petition on Thursday.
A day before, the NBR filed a petition challenging the High Court order that stayed the NBR decision on Tuesday to freeze all the bank accounts of the country’s second largest mobile operator.
Emerging from the court, Deputy Attorney General SM Moniruzzaman said that with this order, NBR decision remained upheld to freeze Robi accounts.
Barrister Tanjib-ul Islam moved for Robi while Deputy Attorney General SM Moniruzzaman represented the state in the court, reports UNB.
On Monday, the NBR directed all the commercial banks to freeze the bank accounts of Robi for the next three days saying the telecom operator evaded Tk 187.2 million Value Added Tax (VAT) and Supplementary Duty (SD).
Meanwhile, Robi said it has successfully concluded outstanding administrative and process matters with the NBR.