The High Court (HC) has asked the customers or creditors of the e-commerce platform Evaly Limited not to insist upon the newly formed Board of Directors or Management of the organisation for refund of their money in the next six months.
However, now the customers are directed to contact the Head Office of Evaly to settle their issues. The court also said in its order by which it had recently formed a five-member body to run the organisation.
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the direction on Thursday.
Following a petition filed under the Companies Act, the High Court bench passed the short order over the issue on October 18.
The customers shall be at liberty to approach the company bench of the High Court during the pendency of the case, the full order also read.
The High Court asked the new chairman, Justice A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury, a retired judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, to explain the contents of the instant orders and directions of the court to all members of the new Board of Directors in the first meeting.
He shall put in his best effort to know the nitty-gritty of Evaly by collecting the Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association, all the audit reports from its inception till date, all the Schedule-X and Forms-XII and the like with the help of the officers/employees of the company, said the full order.
The court said, “The Board of Directors at its earliest convenience shall appoint KPMG (Rahman Rahman Huq) to carry out the audit. Upon perusal and consideration of the auditor’s reports, the Board is directed to make its own findings and observations about the role of the former Directors, MDs, CFOs, Auditors and other officials of Evaly in collecting money from the general people.”
“The Board shall consider the purchasers’ and creditors’ applications for refund of money or applications for delivery of goods in accordance with law at its earliest convenience taking into consideration the various factors for their failure to delivery of the goods in the past.”
The court asked the newly appointed Managing Director, Mahbub Kabir Milon, to call, hold and conduct the first meeting of the Board of Directors as per the convenience of all the members of the Board of Directors. The Managing Director, at first, shall endeavour to run the company under the direct supervision and monitoring of the Board of Directors.
The court asked the defaulting Board of Directors or concerned persons to hand over all the movable and immovable properties, cash in hand, shares, debentures, FDRs, receivables (i.e. all types of assets), equipment, keys, documents, cars and all other objects to the newly Court-appointed MD and they shall remain attached with Evaly only as shareholders.
The regulators, authorities, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce are directed to do the needful to give effect to the Board of Directors of Evaly formed by this Order. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Administration well ensure that the newly-appointed MD is getting his salary and usual benefits smoothly.
The Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the Secretaries of the Ministries of Finance, Commerce and Home Affairs and the Registrar of the Joint Stock Companies and Firms are directed to hold meetings with the Board of Directors of Evaly as and when the Board wishes to do so, if they are notified about the desired meetings by giving them at least 10 days prior notice.
The court asked the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to deal with the criminal cases arising out of or in connection with the transactions/businesses of Evaly in accordance with law, and he shall extend his all-out cooperation to the Court-appointed Board of Directors for smooth functioning of the company.
On October 18 the High Court formed a 5-member interim body to run the overall management and the company affairs of the controversial e-commerce platform Evaly Limited.
Md Farhad Hossen, a customer of the Evaly, filed the petition on Sep 22 seeking HC directives to wind up the Evaly and distribute net asset cash fund among creditors.
Farhad Hossen gave payment through mobile financial services bKash and Nagad for purchasing products worth Tk 33,308 last May. But he has so far failed to get his products despite repeated contacts with the Evaly authorities. Then he moved High Court for remedy.
