Cumilla-4 seat: BNP aspirant’s loan defaulter status upheld

The Supreme Court chamber judge yesterday stayed for eight weeks a High Court order that had suspended the inclusion of BNP candidate Manjurul Ahsan Munshi’s name in the list of loan defaulters.

Justice Md Rezaul Haque passed the order following a leave to appeal petition filed by Premier Bank, challenging the HC order.

Manjurul Ahsan Munshi is an aspirant BNP candidate for the Cumilla-4 constituency, where NCP leader Hasnat Abdullah is contesting from the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance.

Following the stay order, Manjurul will be treated as a loan defaulter and will therefore be ineligible to contest the election, said Barrister Bivuti Tarofder, lawyer for Premier Bank.

He said Manjurul’s company, MAM Power Limited, took a loan from the bank in 2005, and the outstanding amount now stands at Tk 89 crore.

Manjurul’s lawyer, Muhammad Saifullah Mamun, said the HC had earlier issued an injunction preventing his client’s company from being listed as a loan defaulter in the Credit Information Bureau.

He said Premier Bank and IDLC later filed leave to appeal petitions against that order, following which the chamber judge stayed the HC ruling.

Responding to a query, Mamun said the issue of whether Manjurul can contest the election is a separate matter, as there was no specific prayer or order barring him from doing so.

In the Cumilla-4 constituency, BNP has yet to field any alternative candidates.