Grameen Bank director challenges legality of a govt notice

A writ petition has been filed with the High Court challenging the legality of a government notice that declared the posts of nine elected directors of Grameen Bank vacant.

Tahsina Khatun, a former elected director, submitted the petition on April 6, seeking a stay on the notice issued by the finance ministry.

The ministry sent the notice to the government-appointed chairman of Grameen Bank on March 30, saying the posts of the nine elected directors of the microlender have become vacant since their three-year tenure expired on February 7 this year.

The notice said the chairman along with two other directors nominated by the government will now be sufficient to hold meetings of the board of the bank.

Challenging the ministry's decision, Tahsina stated in her petition that the posts of the nine elected directors would be vacant after the election commission announces the polls schedule to select their replacements, as stated in Grameen Bank (Director Election) Rules 2014.

But the government has not yet appointed the election commission, let alone announce the election schedule. As a result, the posts of the nine elected directors cannot be declared vacant, she said.    

The petitioner also said the finance ministry has issued the notice to the Grameen Bank chairman illegally.

Deputy Attorney General Amatul Karim Swapna, however, told The Daily Star that there was no illegality in the finance ministry's notice to the Grameen Bank chairman.

Meanwhile, the HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo held the hearing on the petition on April 20 and 21. The hearing may resume today.

The 12-member Grameen Bank board is comprised of nine borrower-directors, who are elected every three years, and three government-nominated directors, one of whom serves as the chairman.

The expiry of the tenure of the borrower-directors has created a situation, for the first time since the bank's inception three decades ago, where borrowers, who own 75 percent shares of the bank, do not have any representation in the board.

“The borrower-shareholders are the real owners of the bank. A board where there is no representation of the borrowers can't be a board of Grameen Bank,” Tahsina had told The Daily Star earlier.