Staff Reporter :
The High Court has reconstituted the Board of Directors of Destiny-2000 Ltd through appointing Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, a former judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, as its new chairman in order to run the company properly.
The court also permitted the new board to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of the company.
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after hearing a petition filed by 16 shareholders of the company seeking permission to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
Barrister Mainul Islam appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the petitioners.
The lawyer said, “The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company has been stopped since 2012 due to various reasons including lawsuits. According to Sections 81 and 85 of the Company Act, 1994, if the AGM is not held once within the specified period, then the AGM has to be held with the permission of the court.
That is why 16 shareholders of the Destiny-2000 Limited filed petition with the High Court on May 31 in 2022 seeking its permission over the AGM. After hearing the petition the court has reconstituted the board and also allowed the board to hold AGMs.”
The lawyer said that the board of 17 members has been reorganized keeping 9 members of the previous board. Apart from the chairman, the four new members on the board are– Hasan Shaheed Ferdous, a retired secretary, Barrister Margub Kabir, a Supreme Court lawyer and Fakhruddin Ahmed, FCA, and businessman Iqbal Jaman.
Destiny Group Managing Director Rafiqul Amin’s lawyer Uzzal Kumar Bhowmick said that some of the shareholders of the company who are not accused in any case have also been kept on the board.
Destiny-2000 that got registration on December 14 in 2000 has a total of 49 shareholders.
On May 12 in 2022, a special court in Dhaka sentenced all the 46 accused, including Destiny Group President Gen Harun-Ar-Rashid and Managing Director Rafiqul Amin, to different terms of imprisonment in a case filed over embezzling Tk 18.61 billion through Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited.
Harun-Ar-Rashid was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined Tk 35 million and Rafiqul Amin was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment and fined Tk 2.0 billion.
Judge of the Special Judge’s Court-4 in Dhaka, Shaikh Nazmul Alam, delivered the verdict after concluding all the proceedings of the case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission on July 31, 2012, filed two cases under Money Laundering Prevention Act with capital’s Kalabagan Police Station.
In one case, 46 people were accused of misappropriating Tk 18.61 billion under the cover of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited Project, while in another case 19 people were accused of embezzling more that Tk 22.57 billion through Destiny Tree Plantation Project (DTPP).
The court on August 24, 2016 framed charges in the two cases. Of the two cases, the court pronounced the judgment in Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited case on May 12 this year.
