The High Court yesterday stayed a case on the 1996 stockmarket scam,
the verdict of which was scheduled to be delivered on November 8 by a
special tribunal.
Justice Naima Haider and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam passed the order
after AS Shahudul Islam Bulbul, a defendant in the case, filed a writ
petition.
The petition challenged a clause in the Securities and Exchange
Commission Ordinance of 1969 that put the “burden of proof” on the
defendants, said Mohsen Rashid, Bulbul's lawyer.
With the stay order, the proceedings of the case will remain suspended at the tribunal, he said.
Earlier on October 27, the special tribunal fixed November 8 to
deliver the verdict on the case, which involves Rakibur Rahman, former
president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange; AS Shahudul Islam Bulbul, a
former director of the premier bourse; and Abu Tayeb, the then chairman
of Chittagong Cement and Clinker and Grinding Company.
The three accused were directors of the cement company, now known as
Heidelberg Cement, according to a probe report after the 1996 scam.
Although Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission directed them
to step down from the posts, they continued to stay as directors in the
company, whose prices crossed Tk 18,000 per share in 1996 against a book
value of Tk 134.
One of the directors of the company transferred a large number of
shares in the July-November period of 1996 to one of his relatives,
which were then sold off in the market, the probe report said, without
mentioning any name.
The BSEC had also inquired about the sales of shares by the company
to outsiders (Indian and Iranian nationals) by bypassing the DSE and
Chittagong Stock Exchange.
There was no satisfactory reply from the company, which is also a defendant of the case.
During the period, some shares were sold by foreign investors and
there were some price-sensitive announcements, which made the prices
peak, the committee found.
These clearly indicate an act of manipulation and the dealings come
within mischief under a section of the Securities and Exchange
Ordinance, the report said.
