HC unhappy with 3 state entities

The High Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure with the commerce ministry, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) for not submitting reports on e-commerce irregularities on time.

While hearing three writ petitions filed over e-commerce scams, the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman said, “The three government bodies did not submit their reports even after court notices were issued. How is it possible?” It also said it would take the matter seriously.

On September 28, the court issued notices to the three bodies, seeking information about tax collection from e-commerce platforms and steps taken against their alleged money laundering.

The three authorities were ordered to submit their reports by November 8. 

On Tuesday, the court asked Deputy Attorney General Bepul Bagmar to take immediate action over the failure to submit the reports after talking to the attorney general.

It also extended the time to submit the reports till Nov 23.  

Deputy Attorney General Bepul later said the NBR had informed him that it was yet to receive the court notice.

On September 28, the High Court also asked the BFIU and the NBR to submit reports on how much money the rogue e-commerce firms, such as Evaly and E-orange, had received from their customers and where and how the funds had been transferred.

It further sought information on whether there was any incident of money laundering in those fund transfers.

The court also asked the commerce ministry to mention in the report the jurisdiction of the 16-member technical committee formed to bring discipline into the e-commerce sector.

Earlier, on behalf of disgruntled e-commerce customers, Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir filed a writ petition with the High Court.

The commerce secretary, the finance secretary, the posts and telecommunications secretary, the law secretary, the central bank governor, and the NBR chairman are among the 18 respondents to the writ.