BB's denial of Abbas's Dhaka Bank directorship political

Bangladesh Bank's refusal to approve Mirza Abbas' reappointment as a director of Dhaka Bank Limited was "completely" the result of "political vengeance" carried out "on the instructions of the government" and which would have a negative impact on the economy, alleged BNP yesterday.

"Everybody knows Mirza Abbas is one of the founding directors of Dhaka Bank Limited," BNP Spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon told a press conference at the party's Naya Paltan central office in the capital.

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The refusal is the "worst instance of political vindictiveness" and BNP strongly denounces it, he said.

Ripon said the central bank's claim that the BNP standing committee member was a fugitive in a case filed with Paltan Police Station was totally false as Abbas was no more a fugitive in any case filed with the police station.

He alleged that the government has started interfering in businesses run by the party's men "out of political retribution".

Demanding that Bangladesh Bank revokes its refusal, Ripon hoped that the government would no longer "seek political reprisal" in the interest of practicing democracy.

Bangladesh Bank has refused the reappointment for a series of criminal cases pending against Abbas, a central bank official said on Sunday.

He is facing 38 cases, according to a home ministry document.

"He cannot attend the bank's board meetings and Bangladesh Bank believes the depositors' money is not well protected under him," M Mahfuzur Rahman, executive director and spokesman for Bangladesh Bank told The Daily Star.

A person will be disqualified from a bank's directorship if charged with criminal activity and the court makes any adverse observation or issues an arrest warrant or conviction on criminal charges, according to the Banking Companies Act.

The decision was taken in consultation with Bangladesh Bank's legal division, said a top official of the central bank.

One of the founding members of Dhaka Bank, Abbas was appointed as an alternate director in 1995 and a full-fledged one in 2012.