Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Monday formed a 5-member interim body to run the overall management and the company affairs of the controversial e-commerce platform Evaly Limited.
The HC appointed Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, a former judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, as the Chairman of the company and Mahbub Kabir Milon, an Additional Secretary of the government, as its Managing Director.
Md Rezaul Ahsan, former Local Government Secretary, Chartered Accountant Fakhruddin Ahmed and Barrister Khan Mohammad Shamim Aziz as a jurist have also been included in the 5-member body.
The interim body will hold a meeting immediately after receiving the written copy of the order and notify the court about the progress on the next hearing date scheduled for November 23.
The HC Bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after holding hearing on a petition filed under the Companies Act-1994.
The court said, “Company court has the Suo Moto (voluntary move) jurisdiction to form a body for a commercial entity. Accordingly we have formed a body for the Evaly. Now the new board will see the company affairs of the organisation. They will try to run the company as a viable entity. If it is not possible they will take initiative to winding up it.”
Meanwhile, in an instant reaction Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury said, “We will try our best to make Evaly as a viable commercial entity. At the same time we will try to protect the money of the creditors and to pay back their money.”
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 also made a plea for formation of an interim board of directors to take control of the e-commerce entity’s affairs, management and business.
He also sought a court order to direct the respondents to restrain or prohibit Evaly from selling, transferring or disposing of its assets.
Following the petition, the same HC Bench on Sep 22 directed the authorities concerned not to sell, transfer or dispose of the assets of Evaly Limited until the disposal of the case filed with it.
And on September 30, the bench called for all records of the Evaly Limited. Complying with the HC order, the Registrar of the Joint Stock of Companies and Firms sent all records of the company on October 12 this year to this court.
On Monday (yesterday) the court formed the five-member body to run the company.
Barristers AM Masum and Syed Mahsib Hossain appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner.
According to the petition, 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 HC for remedy.
On September 16, another client of the Arif Baker sued Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and chairman Shamima Nasrin with Gulshan police station for not delivering him products despite taking advance payment.
Following the case, the RAB personnel arrested them from their Mohammadpur residence the same day. They were taken to RAB headquarters and later handed to Gulshan police on September 17.
Mohammad Rassel and his wife Nasrin are now in jail in the cases filed against them with different police stations.
